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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 


CB 

V22d 

C.2 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped 
below  unless  recalled  sooner.    It  may  be 
renewed  only  once  and  must  be  brought  to 
the  North  Carolina  Collection  for  renewal. 

0^1  1  5  1972- 


twoil  /a-^ 


r^IT^fpe^^FIBi^ 


f^orm  No.  A -369 


./f.^ 


{!^„>tA^C/*.^-^ 


LIF^E  OF 


ZEBULON  B.VANCE. 


BY 


CLEMENTT  DOWO. 


CHARLOTTE,  N.  C. 

ObHerver  Priutiug  and  Publisbiag  House 

181)7. 


Entered  According  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1897, 

By  clement  DOWD, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


INDEX  TO  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Z.  B.Vance .Frontispiece 

Birthplace  of  Vance • 6 

Fireplace  in  Room  Where  Vance  was  Born 8 

Vance,  Age  About  28 32 

First  Law  Office 34 

Vance,  Age  About  36 104 

Charlotte  Residence  of  Vance 112 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  N.  Vance 118 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  M.  Vance 1 20 

Espy  and  Ruth,  Daughters  of  David  INI.  Vance 122 

Lieut.  Z.  B.  Vance,  U.S.  A 134 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  Vance   144 

Mother  of  Z.  B.  Vance 212 

Mrs.  Harriett  Esp}-  Vance 216 

Gombroon 218 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Ancestry,  Birth,  Etc. ,  by  Gen.  R.  B.  Vance i 

CHAPTER  II. 
Boyhood,  Education  Begun,  by  Gen.  R.  B.  Vance 11 

CHAPTER  III. 

As  Student  at  the  University,  by  Kemp  P.  Battle,  LL.  D 16 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Marriage,  Public  Life  Begun,  by  Gen.  R.  B.  Vance 31 

CHAPTER  V. 
Legislative  and  Congressional  Record 3g 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Breaking  Out  of  the  War,  Raises  a  Company,  by  Gen.  R.  B.  Vance     62 

^^..^.^^  CHAPTER  VII. 

A^   As  Soldier  and  War  Governor 65 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

His  Arrest  and  Imprisonmeut 95 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Vance  as  Lawyer 102 

CHAPTER  X. 

'^   Personal  and  General  Description 119 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Vance  as  I  Knew  Him,  by  Rev.  R.  N.  Price,  D.  D 135 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Vance  and  Settle  Campaign 142 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

"Symposium 163 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

^<L/'  As  Governor  After  the   War,  by  Dr.   Chas.   D.  Mclver,  President 

State  Normal  and  Industrial  College   204 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Death  of  :Mother  and  Wife 212 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

As  United  .States  Senator 218 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

His  Attitude  Towards  the  Farmers'  Alliance 279 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Last  Sickness  and  Death 313 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Eulogies  in  the  United  States  Senate 332 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Lecture — The  Scattered  Nation 369 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Address — Duties  of  Defeat 400 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Speech  on  the  Blair  Bill 411 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Speech — President  Davis'  Reported   Threat  to  Coerce  the  Seced- 
ing States 424 

CH.VPTEIi  XXIV. 

Lecture — The  Political  and  Social  South  During  the  War 430 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Lecture — Last  Days  of  the  War  in  North  Carolina 463 


PREFACE. 

THIS  work  v/as  undertaken  by  the  nndersigncd  with 
great  rehictance.  When  first  solicited  he  declined 
because  he  did  not  consider  himself  qualified  for  the  task. 
He  felt  that  Vance's  biography  should  be  written  by  an 
expert,  and  having  had  no  experience  in  biographical  writing 
and  possessing  no  aptitude  for  such  work,  he  was  unwilling 
to  undertake  it. 

But  after  the  lapse  of  two  years  it  became  apparent  that 
the  work  would  not  be  undertaken  by  any  other  person,  and 
on  a  renewal  of  the  solicitation  from  the  sons  and  brother 
of  the  deceased,  the  present  writer  reluctantly  consented  to 
assume  the  task. 

To  supply  in  part  the  conscious  defects  of  the  writer's  own 
qualifications,  he  invited  a  number  of  distinguished  men  who 
were  more  or  less  intimately  associated  with  Vance  at 
various  periods  of  his  life,  tocontribute  articles  to  be  printed 
as  a  symposium,  setting  forth  their  respective  estimates  of 
his  characteristics,  and  especially  the  sources  of  his  great 
popularity  and  influence  among  the  masses.  A^urtiber-of 
these  gentlemen  respondedL  and  their  articles  will  be 
read  with  exceeding:  interest.  And  while  they  agree  in 
some  essential  respects,  there  is  a  pleasing  variety  in  the 
presentation  of  theix^^iews  and  opinions.  One  important 
fact  was  perhaps  not  well  known  to  any  of  them  ;  it  was  not 
understood  or  fully  appreciated  by  the  writer  hereof  till 
after  this  work  was  begun;  and  that  was  Vance's  wonderful 
capacity  for  labor.  His  greaJL-genius  which  in-early  life 
outcropped  in  rolicking  speeches  and  a,necdotes.  upon  the 
hustings,  took  tEe  form  in  his  matimer.  yearg.  .of  serious 
thoughts,  diligent  study  and  statesman-like  investigation  of 


the  problems  of  legislation.  The  chapter  on  his  career  as 
United  States  Senator  is  quite  inadequate.  There  is  material 
enough  in  that  title  for  several  volumes  of  interesting  and 
instructive  matter  that  would  be  as  valuable  a  contribution 
to  the  political  and  literary  history  of  the  countrv  as 
Benton's  "Thirty  Years  View,"  or  Blaine's  Autobiography. 
It  is  doubtless  safe  to  assert  that  Vance  made  more  able 
and  well  prepared  speeches  and  elaborate  reports  from 
committees  during  his  senatorial  term  than  any  one  of  his 
colleagues. 

It  is  hoped  the  time  may  come  when  these  speeches  and 
reports,  together  with  his  numerous  lectures,  addresses  and 
essays  will  be  printed  in  concise  and  durable  form,  in  order 
that  full  justice  may  be  done  to  his  memory,  and  that  his 
valuable  thoughts  and  labors  may  not  be  lost  to  posterity. 

Many  of  his  warm  personal  friends  have  been  very  kind 
in  the  preparation  of  this  volume  and  have  rendered  valuable 
assistance.  Especial  thanks  are  hereby  tendered  to  the 
writers  of  the  articles  before  mentioned,  and  also  to 
ex-Governor  Jarvis,  Mr.  S.  ly.  Patterson,  Col.  J.  L.  IVIorehead, 
Dr.  J.  H.  McAden,  Geo.  E.  Wilson,  Arch'd  Graham, 
Mrs.  B.  L.  Dewey,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Chambers,  Miss  Addie  Williams, 
Mr.  George  B.  Crater,  of  the  Charlotte  Observer,  and  Prof. 
Alexander  Graham,  of  Charlotte;  Mrs.  Mary  R.  Price,  of 
Salisbury;  Mrs.  Ellen  Devereaux  Hinsdale,  F.  H. 
Busbee,  Esq.,  Mr.  Josephus  Daniels,  of  the  News  and 
Observer,  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe,  Mr.  Ramsey,  of  the  Progressive 
Farmer,  J,  W.  Denmark,  and  Mr.  Ellington,  State  Librarian, 
of  Raleigh ;  W.  H.  Bailey,  of  Texas ;  W.  R.  Whitson, 
Asheville;  P.  M.  Wilson,  Washington,  D.  C;  W.  H.  S. 
Burgwyn,  Henderson;  ex-United  States  Marshal  T.  J. 
Allison  and  his  son,  W.  L.  Allison,  of-Statesville;  Jno.  D. 
Davis,  Beaufort,  N.  C,  and  many  others. 

Ci:,EMENT    DOWD. 


.      ^        CHAPTER  I. 

ANCESTRY,  BIRTH,  ETC. — BY  GEN.  R.  B.  VANCE, 

Ancestn'  Came  from  Normandy — Originally  Vaux  in  Scotland  and 
K'lgland,  and  DeVaux  in  France  and  Vance  in  Ireland — Dukes, 
Princes,  Kings  and  Lords,  Soldiers  and  Officers  in  the  American 
Revolutionary  War — Settled  in  Virginia  and  Afterwards  in  North 
Carolina — Grandfather  of  Z.  B.  V.  Married  in  Rowan  County- 
Commissioner  to  Establish  Liiie  Between  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee — Captain  at  King's  Mountain — In  Other  Battles — Was 
Clerk  of  Buncombe  Court  and  Colonel  of  Militia — Was  in  Legisla- 
ture of  North  Carolina — Had  Buncombe  County  Established — 
His  Will— His  Children— David,  Father  of  Z.  B.  V.,  Lived  and  Died 
in  Buncombe — His  Marriage — Children — Was  m  War  of  1812 — 
The  Baird  Family — Z.  B.  Vance's  Brothers  and  Sisters — R^t. 
Vance,  an  Uncle,  Was  Member  of  Congress  and  Killed  in  a  Duel — 
Davy  Crocket  at  the  Duel — His  Mother — His  Own  Pranks  and 
Peculiarities. 

THE  Vance  family  came  from  Normandy,  and  was 
known  as  Vance,  Vans  or  Devaux.  On  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  the  Devaux  have  been  Dukes  of  Andrea, 
Princes  of  Joinville,  Taranta  and  Altainara,  Sovereign 
Counts  of  Orange  and  Provence,  and  Kings  of  Vienne  and 
Aries,  as  well  as  Lords  DeVaux  in  Normandy. 

ISIr.  William  Balbirnie,  of  England,  in  his  history  of  the 
family  of  Vance  in  Ireland,  Vanse  in  Scotland,  anciently, 
Vaux  in  Scotland  and  England,  and  originally  DeVaux  in 
France,  says:  "In  1066  three  brothers,  Herbert,  Randolph 
and  Robert,  the  sons  of  Harold  DeVaux,  Lord  of  Vaux,  in 
Normandy,  accompanied  William  the  Conqueror  to  Eng- 
land, and  there  their  descendants  became  Lords  DeVaux  of 
Pentry,  and  Brevor  in  Norfolk,  of  Gilliesland  in  Cumber- 
land, and  Harrowden  in  Northamptonshire.  Quite  a 
number  of  the  family  emigrated  to  the  United  States." 

Mr.  Balbirnie  says :  "  Andrew,  the  fourth  son  of  John 
Vance,  emigrated  to  America  and  there  became  the  founder 


2  WFE   OF  VANCE. 

of  a  family ;  one  of  his  sons  was  an  officer  in  the  American 
war,  and  was  killed  in  action,  fighting  under  Washington. 

"  A  descendant  of  his  was  member  of  Conj-ress  for  North 
Carolina  in  1824,  ^^^  was  appointed  one  ot  the  commis- 
sioners to  settle  the  boundary  between  Florida  and  South 
America,  in  the  spring  of  that  year." 

The  person  referred  to  here  must  have  been  Dr.  Pobert 
Vance,  the  uncle  of  Senator  Zebulon  Vance,  as  he  was  in 
Congress  in  1824  ^^^  '825,  as  will  further  appear  in  tb's 
sketch. 

Samuel  Vance,  the  father  of  David  Vance,  resided  in 
Virginia,  having  married  a  Miss  Colville,  and  eight  children 
were  born  to  him,  to-wit :  five  sons  and  three  daughters. 
Of  these  sons,  David,  grandfather  of  Z.  B,  Vance,  was  the 
eldest,  who  was  born  perhaps  about  A.  D.  1745.  David 
came  to  North  Carolina  about  1775,  and  Samuel  Vance 
moved  to  the  neighborhood  of  Abington,  Va,,  where  his 
descendants  may  still  be  found. 

j/  The  grandfather  of  Zebulon  Baird  Vance,  the  David 
mentioned  above,  married  Priscilla  Brank,  in  what  is  now 
I  Rowan  County,  N.  C,  in  the  year  1775,  or  near  that  period. 
At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  for  1796  David  Vance, 
General  Joseph  McDowell  and  Mussendine  Matthews  were 
appointed  commissioners  to  settle  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  which  they  did  in 
the  year  1799,  beginning  at  White  Top  Mountain,  where 
the  three  States  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee 
join,  and  located  the  line  of  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee 
to  a  point  on  the  Great  Smokey  Range,  near  where  Catta- 
loocha  turnpike  crosses  the  famous  Mount  Starling. 

Said  David  Vance  was  an  ensign  in  the  Continental 
army,  and  afterwards  captain  at  King's  Mountain  ;  he  was 
also  in  the  battles  of  Brandywine  and  Germantown,  and 
was  with  Washington  at  Valley  Forge,  in  the  winter  of 
1777  and  1778;  also  fought  at  Ramsour's  Mill,  and  proba- 
bly at  the  Cowpens. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


Capt.  Va*nce,  in  speaking  of  the  death  of  Ferguson,  at 
King's  Mountain,  used  to  say  "  that  during  the  battle  a  horse 
galloped  down  from  the  crown  of  the  mountain,  which  was 
supposed  to  be  Ferguson's."  The  reader  of  Kennedy's 
'•  Horse  Shoe  Robinson  "  will  remember  that  he  mentioned 
a  similar  circumstance  as  having  occurred  during  that 
wonderful  battle — a  battle  fought  on  our  side  without 
cavalry,  without  a  drum  or  a  fife  or  an  ambulance. 

Capt.  David  Vance,  after  moving  with  his  family  from 
the  Catawba  River,  near  Morganton,  to  Reem's  Creek,  ten 
miles  north  of  Asheville,  in  Buncombe,  was  appointed  Clerk 
of  the  Court  for  Buncombe  County,  which  position  he  filled 
with  fidelity  and  acceptability  until  the  day  of  his  death. 

He  was  also  elected  Colonel  of  the  Militia,  in  those  days 
a  position  of  importance,  in  the  unsettled  condition  of  the 
country. 

It  is  related  of  Miss  Celia  Vance,  David's  daughter,  who 
afterwards  married  Benj.  S.  Brittain,  of  Cherokee,  that  she 
passed  where  the  militia  were  drilling  at  the  big  muster,  as 
it  was  called,  and  caught  on  to  the  words  of  the  manual  of 
arms  ;  went  home,  took  down  "Old  Billy  Craig,"  a  gun  six 
and  one-half  feet  in  the  barrel,  and  went  through  the  man- 
ual. When  she  came  to  the  words,  "  Ready,  Aim,  Fire," 
not  knowing  that  "  Old  Billy  "  was  loaded,  she  pulled  the 
trigger ;  the  gun  knocked  her  down,  and  the  load  tore  a 
rent  in  the  partition  in  which  one  could  lay  his  arm. 

The  effect  of  Miss  Celia's  drill  was  long  afterwards  to  be 
seen  in  the  dear  old  house,  where  Zebulon  Baird  Vance 
had  his  eyes  first  opened  to  the  light  of  this  world. 

Col.  David  Vance  represented  Buncombe  County  in  the 
Legislature  of  1785  and  1786;  also  in  1791  ;  and  it  was 
during  the  session  of  1791  that  he  had  the  bill  passed  set- 
ting oflf  Buncombe  County  from  the  counties  of  Burke  and 
Rutherford. 

The  will  of  Col.  Vance,  for  clearness  of  diction  and 
beauty  of  the  handwriting,  has  seldom  been  surpassed.     A 


4  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

portion  is  here  copied  to  show  the  trend  of  his  mind  on 
that  solemn  occasion,  viz  :  "  I,  David  Vance,  of  the  County 
of  Buncombe,  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  being  of 
sound  and  perfect  mind  and  memory,  as  I  hope  these 
presents,  drawn  up  by  myself  and  written  with  my  own 
hand,  will  testify,"  etc. 

In  disposing  of  some  old  slaves,  he  directs  :  "  It  is  my 
will  and  desire  that  they  have  full  liberty,  and  I  do  by 
these  presents  give  them  full  liberty,  to  go  and  live  with 
any  of  my  children  where  their  own  children  live,  not  as 
slaves,  but  as  old  acquaintances,  who  labored  and  spent 
their  strength  to  raise  my  said  children  and  their  own  also. 
I  enjoin  it  upon  my  children  who  may  have  the  children 
of  said  black,  old  people,  not  to  confine  them,  but  let  them 
go  awhile  to  one,  and  a  while  to  another,  where  their 
children  may  be  ;  and  I  enjoin  it  upon  my  children  to  see 
that  the  evening  of  the  lives  of  these  black  people  slide 
down  as  comfortable  as  may  be.  *  *  *  *  And  I  charge 
and  adjure  my  negroes,  old  and  young,  as  they  will  answer 
to  God,  to  be  obedient  and  obliging  to  their  mistress,  and 
not  vex  or  contrary  her  in  old  age.  *  *  *  *  And  now, 
having  disposed  of  and  settled  all  my  worldly  business  and 
concerns,  do  I,  with  a  lively  faith,  humbly  lay  hold  of  the 
meritorious  death  and  sufferings  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  hope 
and  trust  thro'  His  atonement  to  triumph  in  redeeming 
love,  the  ceaseless  ages  of  eternity." 

Col.  Vance  was  buried  in  the  old  burying  grounds  on 
the  Vance  farm,  in  1813,  by  his  family,  the  neighbors  and 
the  Revolutionary  Surviving  Comrades,  whose  arms,  in  the 
"  Honors  of  War  "  awoke  the  echoes  of  the  mountains  as 
they  laid  him  away  forever. 

He  left  surviving  him  his  wife,  three  sons,  Samuel, 
David  and  Robert,  and  five  daughters,  Jean,  who  married 
Hugh  Davidson  ;  H-lizabeth,  who  married  Mitchell  David- 
son, and  after  his  death  Samuel  W.  Davidson  ;  Sarah,  who 
married McLean  ;  Priscilla,  who  married  


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  5 

Whitson,  and  Celia,  who  married  Benjamin  S.  Brittain. 
Samuel  and  the  daughters,  Jean,  Sarah  and  Priscilla  (with 
their  husbands),  about  the  beginning  of  this  century,  re- 
moved to  and  settled  upon  the  lands  in  Tennessee  on  Duck 
River,  which  their  father  had  provided  for  them.  They 
left  numerous  children,  some  of  whom  still  reside  in  that 
country.  The  late  Judge  Hugh  Lawson  Davidson  and  his 
brother,  Robert  B.  Davidson,  who  is  still  living,  and  a 
highly  esteemed  citizen  and  member  of  the  bar  of  Shelby- 
ville,  Tennessee,  were  the  sons  of  Jean. 

Samuel  Vance  was  Sheriff  of  Buncombe  County.  He 
moved  from  North  Carolina  to  IVIiddle  Tennessee,  where 
he  died.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Mary  Burdett,  now  resides  in 
Texas,  near  the  city  of  Austin. 

David  Vance,  father  of  Z.  B.  Vance,  the  second  son  of 
David  and  Priscilla,  lived  and  died  in  Buncombe  County, 
the  place  of  his  death  being  now  Marshall,  in  the  County 
of  Madison,  which  took  place  14th  of  January,  1844,  caused 
by  paralysis.  He  was  born  9th  of  January,  1792  ;  married 
Mira  Margaret  Baird  on  2d  of  January,  1825.  ^^e  cere- 
mony was  performed  two  and  a  half  miles  north  of 
Asheville,  on  the  old  Buncombe  turnpike,  at  the  home  of 
her  father,  Zebulon  Baird,  late  State  Senator  from  the 
Buncombe  District.  The  preacher  on  that  occasion  was 
the  Rev.  Stephen  Morgan,  deceased,  a  Baptist  minister, 
who  was  well  known  through  all  this  section  of  country. 

The  brothers  and  sisters  of  INIrs.  Mira  M.  Vance  were 
James,  John,  Andrew,  Joseph  and  Adolphus,  Sarah  Ann 
and  Mary  Adelaide.  James,  John  and  Andrew  died  in 
other  States,  having  moved  from  North  Carolina.  Joseph 
and  Adolphus  remained  with  Capt.  Vance  in  business,  and 
Joseph  finally  died  at  the  Old  Alexander  Hotel,  on  the 
French  Broad  River,  and  Adolphus  died  in  Asheville. 
The  Baird  young  men  were  men  of  ready  wit  and  fine 
business  qualities. 

When  Joseph  Baird  was  at   Lapland   (now   Marshall)   a 


\ 


6  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

traveller,  who  seemed  astonished  at  the  steepness  of  the 
river  mountains,  where  he  saw  corn  growing,  asked  Joseph 
how  the  people  planted  it.  Joseph  told  him  "  they  shot  it 
in  with  a  shotgun." 

It  is  further  related  of  Joseph  Baird  that  on  a  certain 
occasion  a  handsome,  well-dressed  stranger  arrived  at 
Capt.  David  Vance's,  at  Lapland.  Every  one  regarded  the 
splendid  looking  man,  with  his  black  cloth  suit,  as  a  Pres- 
byterian preacher.  He  was  very  quiet,  and  his  manners 
elegant  and  refined.  After  supper  Joseph  got  his  old  fiddle 
down  and  began  to  practice.  The  noise  was  terrific  and 
fearful  to  listen  to.  Capt.  Vance,  being  a  staid  elder  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  was  horrified.  He  had  a  habit 
of  pacing  the  floor  under  excitment,  and  of  laying  off  with 
his  hands  and  talking  to  himself.  These  things  he  did  on 
the  occasion  mentioned.  The  Captain  gently  hinted  to  the 
tall  gentleman  in  black  that  his  room  was  ready.  He  po- 
litely declined  to  go  to  bed,  and  Joseph  played  away  until 
about  II  o'clock,  when  he  stuck  the  fiddle  suddenly  under 
the  preacher's  nose,  saying  :  "  Stranger,  play  us  a  tune." 
Lo,  he  was  the  finest  fiddler  the  ear  ever  listened  to.  The 
whole  house  got  out  of  bed  to  hear  his  masterly  strokes  on 
the  violin,  and  so  Capt.  Vance  went  to  bed  and  left  him  "  at 
it."  Next  morning  Capt.  Vance  came  into  the  hall,  in- 
serted his  hand  into  the  preacher's  overcoat  and  pulled  out  a 
letter  and  read  the  address  :  "  David  Vance  McLean."  It 
was  his  nephew,  the  son  of  his  sister,  Sallie  McLean,  of 
Duck  River,  Tennessee.  The  quietude  of  the  "  preacher  " 
was  explained  ;  he  kept  his  identity  from  his  uncle  in  order 
to  more  successfully  view  the  land.  The  meeting  of  uncle 
and  nephew  was  a  happy  one. 

It  is  thought  that  Zebulon  B.  Vance  owed  much  of  his 
native  wit  to  the  Baird  branch  of  the  family. 

Sarah  Ann  Baird,  sister  of  Mira  M.  Vance,  married 
Bacchus  J.  Smith,  a  merchant  of  Burnsville,  N.  C.  She 
raised  a  large  family    of   children,    including    Lucius,   of 


I 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  7 

Yancey  County  ;  Horace,  of  Buncombe  ;  David,  of  Oregon  ; 
Adolphus,  of  Yancey,  and  Mrs.  H.  A.  Gudger,  Mrs.  Mark 
W.  Robertson  and  Mrs.  Kate  Erwin,  of  Asheville. 

Miss  Mary  Adelaide  Baird  never  married,  but  lived  and 
died  in  Asheville,  highly  esteemed  and  loved  for  her  vigor- 
ous intellect  and  fine  character. 

The  family  of  David  and  INIira  Margaret  Vance  consisted 
of  Laura  Henrietta,  born  13th  April,  1826;  Robert  Brank, 
born  24th  April,  1828;  Zebulon  Baird,  born  i3tli  May, 
1830  ;  James  Noel,  born  loth  February,  1833  ;  Ann  Edge- 
worth,  born  25th  April,  1836 ;  Sarah  Priscilla,  born  4th 
January,  1838  ;  David  Leonidas,  born  loth  January,  1840, 
and  Hannah  ]\Ioore,  born  loth  August,  1842. 

James  Noel  suffered  from  apoplexy,  and  was  found  dead 
in  the  garden  of  Robert  Brank  in  the  fall  of  1854. 

David  Leonidas  died  at  Marshall,  and  lies  buried  on  the 
French  Broad  at  that  place. 

Capt.  David  Vance  was  an  active  and  useful  business 
man,  remarkable  to  a  high  degree  for  his  kindness  and 
generosity  to  the  poor.  The  rule  was  very  nearly  universal 
in  Madison  County  (then  Buncombe)  for  Capt.  Vance  to 
redeem  the  sale  of  cows  and  other  property  essential  to  the 
happiness  of  his  neighbor  families,  where  the  sale  had  been 
forced,  under  the  hammer,  as  was  often  the  case  in  those 
days,  there  being  no  homestead,  and  the  old  Ca-Sa  law 
being  in  force. 

Capt.  Vance  died  in  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  was  buried  at  the  old  Vance  farm,  on  Reem's 
Creek.  Capt.  Vance  was  a  volunteer  in  the  War  of  181 2, 
and  got  as  far  towards  the  seat  of  war  with  his  company  as 
Wadesboro,  but  there  the  news  of  peace  met  them,  and 
the}'  were  discharged. 

Dr.  Robert  Vance,  the  third  son  of  Col.  David  Vance,  of 
King's  Mountain  memory,  and  of  Priscilla  Vance,  was 
lame,  on  account  of  white  swelling.  He  practiced  medi- 
cine in  Western  North  Carolina,  as  persons  have  recently 


8  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

testified,  and  was  occasionally  in  the  practice  when  he  was 
elected  to  Congress  in  1824,  over  Felix  Walker,  of  Hay- 
wood County.  He  w^as  defeated  for  Congress  in  1826  by 
the  Hon.  Samuel  T.  Carson.  During  the  canvass  some 
words  passed  between  Vance  and  Carson,  and  Vance  .said  : 
"  If  I  am  lame  in  the  foot,  I  am  not  in  the  arm,"  and  a 
duel  followed,  which  took  place  on  the  South  Carolina  side 
of  the  line,  at  Saluda  Gap,  in  1827.  Vance  was  shot 
fatally,  and  died  at  midnight  from  his  wound,  his  last 
words  being  "  Out,  brief  candle." 

The  writer  has  often  seen  the  belt  worn  by  Dr.  Vance, 
with  the  fatal  bullet-hole,  and  has  also  seen  the  pistols 
used  on  the  occasion.  The  one  used  by  Carson  had  a 
notch  cut  in  the  handle.  They  belonged  to  ]\Ir.  Palmer,  a 
jeweler  of  Raleigh. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  celebrated  David  Crocket, 
of  Tennessee,  trained  Carson  in  his  pistol  practice,  and  w^as 
■oresent  at  the  duel.  Recently  the  writer  has  received  by 
express  the  walking-cane  of  Dr.  Vance,  which  has  been 
many  years  in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Mary  Burdett,  of  Austin, 
Texas,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Vance,  deceased. 

The  mother  of  Senator  Zebulon  B.  Vance  w^as  born  2  2d 
December,  1802,  at  the  old  Baird  farm,  already  mentioned. 
She  died  at  the  old  Elisha  Ray  farm,  distant  from  the  place 
of  her  birth  and  marriage  only  two  and  a  half  miles.  She 
united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1822,  and  re- 
mained in  the  communion  of  that  Church  until  several  of 
her  children  had  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  and  she  then  cast  her  lot  with  them  in  that  Church. 
The  love  she  had  for  her  old  Church  remained  with  her 
while  life  lasted. 

In  many  respects  she  was  a  remarkable  woman.  She 
was  exceedingly  fond  of  reading,  and  her  eye-sight  was 
so  vigorous  that  when  she  was  sevent}--five  years  of  age 
she  could  read  her  Bible,  a  fine  print,  without  spectacles. 
She  was  quite   a  cheerful   woman,    and    greatly    enjoyed 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  9 

witty  things,  provided  no  pain  followed  the  witticisms. 
Her  children  recall  the  glee  with  which  she  would  relate 
many  of  the  "  Border  Tales," 

This  excellent  woman  went  to  school  with  Governor 
Swain,  of  North  Carolina,  and  Governor  Perry,  of  vSonth 
Carolina,  and  entertained  at  her  house  in  Marshall  John 
C.  Calhoun  and  William  C.  Preston,  of  South  Carolina, 
and  other  eminent  men.  She  survived  her  husband  thirty- 
four  years,  rearing  her  children  "  in  the  nurture  and 
admonition  of  the  Lord,"  and  by  her  consistent  and  noble 
life,  bearing  such  evidence  to  all  around,  that,  at  her 
funeral,  October,  1878,  the  Rev.  James  Atkins,  D.  D.,  was 
justified  in  saying,  in  his  eloquent  sermon,  "She  hath 
done  what  she  could."  The  love  of  her  children  clings 
around  her  dust  on  "  Cemetery  Hill,"  overlooking  the 
Tah-kee-ostee,  beside  whose  waters  so  much  of  her  life  had 
been  spent.  She  sleeps  well,  and  nothing  earthly  can 
break  her  rest.  The  thunder  around  her  resting  place  oft 
times  shakes  the  earth.  The  French  Broad  lashes  its 
waters  in  anger  against  the  shore,  and 

The  years  in  the  sheaf,  they  come  and  they  go 
With  the  river's  ebb  and  the  river's  flow, 

But— 

Her  rest  still  is  deep 

Where  the  ivies  creep 

And  the  angels  their  holy  vigils  keep. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  Zebulon  B.  Vance  had  a  line 
of  ancestors  on  both  sides  of  the  house  of  which  no  one 
knowing  them  or  knowing  of  them,  need  be  ashamed. 
The  old  house  where  Zebulon  was  born  was  one  of  the 
oldest  houses  in  the  country,  being  at  the  time  when  taken 
down,  only  recently,  about  100  years  old,  and  which  had 
never  been  recovered,  having  a  roof  of  heart  pine  shingles. 
Fortunately  a  photograph  was  taken  of  the  old  mansion, 
which  is  hereby  presented  to  the  reader. 

Young  Zebulon  was  a  remarkable  boy,  as  he  afterwards 
proved  himself  to  be  a  remarkable  man. 


lO  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

He  and  the  other  children  had  measels  when  he  was 
three  years  of  age.  To  keep  him  in  the  house  his  mother 
had  a  hickory  log  brought  into  the  house.  This  log  he 
chopped  on  with  a  surveyor's  hatchet,  given  to  him  by  his 
life-long  and  beloved  friend,  Nehemiah  Blackstock,  Esq., 
who,  with  his  loving  companion,  "Aunt  Leeky,"  have  en- 
tered into  rest. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  he  and  his  brother  were 
baptized  in  the  old  Presbyterian  Church  at  Col.  Robert 
Williamson's,  on  Reem's  Creek.  Rev.  Mr.  Porter  was  the 
officiating  minister  on  the  occasion. 

Owing  to  Zebulon's  vivacity  of  words  and  manners, 
some  of  his  family  feared  he  would  say  something  to  the 
preacher,  but  he  simply  looked  up  at  him  and  said  noth- 
ing. Young  Zeb  was  an  extraordinary  boy  from  the  time 
he  was  old  enough  to  understand  and  to  play  pranks  on 
people.  One  peculiarity  of  his  was  to  stand  in  the  branch 
and  drink  water  on  his  all-fours.  It  was  a  kind  of  lapping 
process,  reminding  one  of  Gideon's  famous  "  300." 

He  was  given,  in  his  extreme  boyhood,  to  profanity, 
learned,  probably,  from  the  young  colored  men  on  the 
farm.  While  at  school  his  teacher,  INIathew  Woodson, 
Esq.,  long  since  gone  to  rest,  undertook  the  laudable  task 
of  breaking  Zeb  of  the  habit.  He  placed  the  boy  at  a 
mouse-hole,  with  a  pair  of  tongs  in  his  hands,  and  told  him 
to  not  open  his  mouth  until  he  caught  the  mouse.  Zeb 
took  his  j)lace  at  the  hole,  and  the  work  of  the  school  went 
on.  Finally  the  time  for  "  spelling  by  heart  "  came  round, 
and  in  the  excitement  of  the  contest  everybody  forgot  Zeb. 
All  at  once  he  startled  the  school  by  shouting  out  : 
"  Damned  if  I  haven't  got  him  !  "  and  sure  enough,  he  had 
the  mouse  gripped  with  the  tongs. 


UFE   OF   VANCE.  II 


CHAPTER  II.         / 

BOYHOOD,  EDUCATION  BEGUN. BY  GEN.  R.  B.  VANCE. 

Enters  School — Six  Y^ears  of  Age — Hotel  Clerk  at  Hot  Springs — P'alls 
from  a  Tree  and  Breaks  a  Limb — His  Poetry — The  Old  Patched 
Trousers — Went  to  Washington  College — Death  of  His  Father — 
Goes  to  Chapel  Hill — Gets  License  and  Begins  the  Practice  of 
Law. 

'EBULON  was  about  six  years  of  age  when  he  entered 
the  school  of  M.  Woodson,  Esq.  The  school  build- 
ing was  on  Flat  Creek,  and  was  a  preaching  place  for  Rev. 
Stephen  Morgan,  before  mentioned.  Zeb  boarded  with 
Nehemiah  Blackstock,  Esq.,  who  resided  on  the  Burnsville 
road,  13  miles  north  of  Asheville,  The  squire  was  fond 
of  telling  anecdotes  on  Zebulon,  many  of  which  have  been 
preserved  in  that  section  of  country.  Among  others,  was 
one  in  connection  with  a  blank  book  the  squire  kept  for 
certain  uses.  He  told  Zeb  that  when  he  did  anything 
wrong  a  black  spot  would  come  in  the  book.  Squire's 
son  Bob  had  a  pony  called  "  Pomp,"  and  when  Zeb  did  not 
behave  at  school  as  Bob  desired  he  should,  he  would  go 
home  a  near  way  on  "  Pomp,"  and  inform  his  father. 
Zeb  fought  with  one  of  the  boys  one  day,  and  when  he  got 
to  the  mansion  that  evening  he  saw  the  squire  looking 
into  the  book.  He  shrunk  back  at  first,  but  after  a  while 
he  ventured  to  go  into  the  room  where  the  squire  was  sit- 
ting. "  It's  there,  is  it.  Uncle  Miah  ?  "  said  Zeb.  "  Yes," 
said  the  squire  ;  "  it  is  very  large  and  black  to-day.     What 

have  you  done  ?  "     "I  whipped to-day,"  said  the  boy. 

"  What  for,  Zeb  ?  "     "  Well,  Uncle  Miah,  he  was  so  cussed 
ugly  that  I  could  not  help  it." 

Mr.  Woodson,  after  the  close  of  the  Flat  Creek  school, 
opened  another  on  the  French  Broad,  two  and  a  half  miles 


12  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

from  Capt.  D.  Vance's,  and  Zeb  was  a  pupil  there.  He 
went  afterwards  to  school  to  Miss  Jane  Hughey,  who 
taught  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lapland,  now  Marshall. 
These  "  old  field  schools,"  as  they  were  called,  were  precious 
to  his  memory.     Many  of  the  teachers  have  passed  over, 

and 

"  Their  switches  are  rust, 

"  Their  school  houses  are  dust, 

"  Their  souls  are  with  the  saints,  we  trust!" 

After  Zebulon  had  been  to  school  in  the  country  schools 
he  stopped  a  while  at  Hot  Springs,  N.  C,  as  hotel 
clerk,  with  John  E.  Patton,  Esq.,  who  was  a  lasting  friend 
to  the  young  man.  During  his  stay  there  he  had  occasion 
to  reprimand  Mr.  Patton's  famous  colored  servant,  Cato. 
The  youngster  said  "  he  would  rob  the  guilty  world  of 
Cato's  life,"  whereupon  a  Southern  gentleman,  sitting 
near  by,  declared  he  was  the  first  literary  clerk  at  a  hotel 
desk  he  had  met  with.  After  his  return  from  Hot  Springs 
his  old  friend,  Edmund  Sams,  a  near  neighbor,  was  alarm- 
ingly ill.  Zebulon,  having  been  with  Dr.  McCree,  of 
Morganton,  who  treated  him  for  white  swelling,  had 
gathered  up  a  good  many  ideas  about  medicines  and  reme- 
dies. So  he  offered  his  services  to  his  old  friend,  and 
relieved  him  from  what  seemed  to  be  a  fatal  attack. 
While  convalescing  the  old  man  frequently  talked  to 
himself  on  this  wise  :  "  Who  would  have  thought  it.  I 
don't  suppose  there  is  a  man  in  the  country  could  have 
done  this  except  Squire  Baird  " — an  uncle  of  Zeb's.  Along 
about  this  time  Zeb  met  with  several  injuries  which  gave 
him  a  good  deal  of  pain  and  trouble.  He  fell  from  a  tree 
and  was  ruptured,  from  which  trouble  he  was  relieved  by 
his  friend,  Dr.  McCree,  and  afterwards  he  fell  from  a  horse- 
apple  tree,  a  mile  from  home,  and  broke  his  thigh.  His 
brother  Robert  carried  him  home  on  his  back.  His 
father's  friend,  and  the  friend  of  Dr.  Robert  Vance,  Dr.  J. 
F.  E.  Hardy,  set  his  leg,  at  Lapland,  the  leg  being  placed 


V 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  13 

ill  a  box,  according-  to  the  practice  of  that  day  and  time. 
He  amused  himself  while  confined  by  throwing  little  round 
rocks,  taken  from  the  banks  of  the  river,  at  the  other 
children. 

It  is  probably  true  that  the  time  will  never  come  when 
stories  are  not  repeated  in  the  French  Broad  Valley  and  all 
the  adjacent  country,  including  Tennessee  and  other  States, 
about  the  boyhood  of  Zeb  Vance. 

Some  travelers  passed  his  father's  house  and  asked  Zeb 
if  there  was  any  liquor  about  the  house.  He  said  yes,  his 
mother  had  some.  They  gave  him  a  bottle,  and  he  went 
to  *  "  ]\Iammy  Venus,"  the  warm-hearted  old  servant  who 
helped  rear  the  children,  and  got  a  bottle  of  pot-liquor  and 
gave  it  to  the  travelers.  He  charged  them  nothing,  but 
made  them  promise  not  to  open  it  till  they  got  out  of  sight. 
The  effect  of  the  opening  of  the  bottle  can  be  imagined. 
Zeb  had  kept  in  sight  to  see  the  fun. 

Zebulon's  mother  was  a  very  frugal  housewife,  and  pos- 
sessed a  good  deal  of  skill  in  reducing  Capt.  Vance's  old 
broadcloth  suits  to  fit  Zebulon.  In  fact,  she  was  one  of 
those  who 

"  Wi'  her  needles  and  her  shears, 

"  Gares  auld  does  amaist  as  weel's  the  new." 

In  memory  of  this  fact,  Zebulon  wrote  the  following  in 
the  days  of  his  boyhood : 

THE  LITTLE  PATCHED  TROUSERS. 
How  dear  to  my  heart  are  the  pants  of  my  childhood, 

When  fond  recollection  presents  them  to  view; 
The  pants  that  I  wore  in  the  deep  tangled  wildwood. 

And  likewise  the  groves  where  the  crab-apples  grew. 


*"  Mammy  Venus"  was  sold  at  the  sale  of  personal  property 
belonging  to  Capt.  Vance  in  1844.  She  ascended  the  block  with 
Hannah,  Zeb's  sister,  in  her  arms,  and  said  :  "  Whoever  takes  Venus 
takes  my  chile. "  Mrs.  Vance  bid  "one  dollar,"  and  before  anyone 
had  time  to  speak  Venus  said  "  Bress  de  Lord,  I  keeps  my  chile,"  and 
away  she  went  with  baby  Hanna  in  her  strong  arms.  The  shout  of 
the  people  was  loud  and  happy.  She  "tipped  the  beam"  at  250 
pounds. 


14  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

The  wide-spreading  seat  with  its  little  square  patches, 
The  pockets  that  bulged  with  my  luncheon  for  noon, 

And  also  with  marbles  and  fish-worms  and  matches, 

And  gum-drops  and  kite-strings  from  March  until  June. 

The  little  patched  trousers,  the  made-over  trousers. 
The  high-water  trousers  that  fit  me  too  soon. 

No  pantaloons  ever  performed  greater  service 
In  filling  the  hearts  of  us  youngsters  with  joy; 

They  made  the  descent  from  Adolphus  to  Jervis, 
Right  down  through  a  family  of  ten  little  boys. 

Through  no  fault  of  mine  known  to  me  or  to  others, 
I'm  the  tenderest  branch  on  our  big  family  tree, 

And  having  done  service  for  nine  older  brothers, 
They  come  down  to  me  slightly  bagged  at  the  knee. 

The  little  patched  trousers,  the  second-hand  trousers, 
The  old  family  trousers  that  bagged  at  the  knee. 

— Z.  B.  Vance. 

When  Zebulon  was  about  twelve  years  of  age  his  father 
sent  him  to  Washington  College,  near  Jonesboro,  East 
Tennessee,  presided  over  by  Rev.  Alexander  Doak,  D,  D. 
He  was  at  that  place  when  he  received  news  of  the  pros- 
tration of  his  father,  Capt.  David  Vance,  and  he  got  home 
just  in  time  to  see  him  die.  He  did  not  return  to  Wash- 
ington College,  but  at  a  later  period  he  entered  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  and  was  a  pupil  of  Governor 
Swain.  On  Zeb's  arrival  at  Chapel  Hill  the  boys  proposed 
to  put  him  through  the  "  hazing  "  process.  So  they  first 
tied  Zeb's  big  toes  to  a  bed-post.  He,  however,  asked 
leave  to  tell  them  some  "  mountain  yarns,"  and  he  thus 
entertained  them  until  broad  day  light.  Then  a  tall  stu- 
dent named  Respass  told  the  boys  that  they  could  not 
haze  Zeb  Vance  while  he  was  around,  and  so  the  hazing 
was  abandoned.  Young  Vance  was  quite  a  favorite  with 
Governor  Swain,  and  the  friendship  of  the  dear  old  Presi- 
dent for  Zeb  remained  as  long  as  the  Governor  (Swain) 
lived.  President  Swain  was  in  the  habit  of  lecturing  before 
his  class  on  political  economy,  and  related  with  much  glee 
that  the  currency  of  the  State  of  Frankland  (cut  off  from 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.     ,  1 5 

North  Carolina)  consisted  of  coon  skins.  "  After  awhile," 
the  Governor  said,  "the  traders  got  to  sewing-  to  possum  skins 
the  tails  of  the  coons.  What  kind  of  a  currency  would  you 
call  that,  Mr.  Vance  ?  "  the  Governor  enquired  of  Zeb.  The 
young  man  answered  him  at  once  :     "  A  retail  currency." 

Young  Vance  remained  at  the  University  until  he  was 
ready  to  apply  for  his  law  license,  which  he  obtained  at 
Raleigh  about  the  ist  of  January,  1852.  On  his  return 
from  Raleigh  with  his  license  he  visited  the  western 
counties  as  an  attorney. 

Long  afterwards,  Zeb,  in  lecturing  before  the  Law  Col- 
lege of  the  District  of  Columbia,  referred  to  this  trip  in 
about  these  words  : :  "  I  went  out  to  Court  horseback,  and 
carried  a  pair  of  saddle-bags,  with  a  change  of  shirts  and 
the  North  Carolina  Form-book  in  one  end  of  the  saddle- 
bags, and  it  is  none  of  your  business  what  was  in  the 
other."  This  brought  down  the  house,  about  150  students 
occupying  the  stand  of  the  new  National  Theatre  with  him. 


l6  LIFE   OF  VANCK. 


CHAPTER  III. 

AS  STUDENT  AT  UNIVERSITY. — BY  KEMP  P.  BATTLE,  LL.  D. 

Vance  Enters  College  and  Takes  a  Special  Course — His  Appearance, 
Manner,  Habits — Loves  Fun  But  Loves  Good  Books — Studies  Well 
— Wins  the  Good  Opinion  of  the  Students  and  Faculty — A  Great 
Favorite  with  Gov.  Swain  and  Doctor  Mitchell — Witty  Speeches, 
Quick  Rejoinders,  Anecdotes,  Incidents,  Puns,  Bon  Mots — Mock 
Trial — Moot  Court — His  Parting  Remarks,  Etc. 

1^  MONG  the  inhabitants  of  the  lands  east  of  the  Blue 
J[~\\  Ridge,  I  claim  to  be  the  first  discoverer  of  Zebnlon 
Baird  Vance.  In  the  summer  of  1848  I  visited  Asheville 
in  company  with  my  father,  who,  as  Superior  Court  Judge, 
was  holding  a  special  term  for  the  Coimty  of  Buncombe. 
The  old  court  house  had  been  burned.  Timbers  had  been 
hauled  for  the  erection  of  a  more  handsome  structure.  I 
was  sitting  on  these  timbers  in  the  soft  radiance  of  a  full 
moon  light,  talking  to  a  young  lawyer  who  had  a  brain  by 
nature  large  enough  to  have  placed  him  among  the  moun- 
tain giants,  Newton  Coleman.  He  called  to  a  young  man 
passing  by  and  introduced  him  to  me  as  Zeb  Vance.  ]\Iy 
new  acquaintance  impressed  me  at  once  as  a  youth  of 
peculiar  attractiveness  of  manner  and  gifts  of  mind.  I 
thought  I  knew  something  of  Shakspere,  but  his  familiar- 
ity with  the  characters  and  words  of  the  Titan  poet  put  me 
to  shame.  I  claimed  to  be  in  a  measure  intimate  with  the 
personages  of  the  romances  of  my  favorite,  Scott,  but  he 
had  evidently  lived  with  them  as  with  home-folks.  I  had 
been  from  childhood,  not  always  a  willing,  but  certainly  a 
regular  attendant  on  Sunday  school  and  church  services,  and 
I  thought  I  had  at  least  an  amateur  familiarity  with  the 
Bible,  but  his  mind  seemed  to  be  stored  with  Scriptural 
texts  as  fully  as  a  theological  student  preparing   for    his 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  17 

examination.  Candor  compels  me  to  admit,  however,  that 
his  application  of  these  texts  conduced  oftener  to  risibility 
than  to  the  conversion  of  souls.  His  wit  sparkled  like  the 
wavelets  of  the  "ever  laughing- ocean."  His  humor  had 
no  acridity,  and  was  distinguished  by  the  extraordinary 
power  not  only  of  perennial  pleasantness,  but  of  gently 
forcing  his  companions  to  feel  that  they  had  known  and 
loved  him  from  boyhood. 

I  returned  to  my  home  in  Chapel  Hill,  and  among  my 
memories  of  pellucid  waters  and  tumbling  cascades,  green 
laurel  and  gray  crags,  the  dark  summits  and  graceful  out- 
line of  sleeping  Pisgah  and  frowning  Mitchell,  the  most 
pleasant  was  that  of  my  genial  new  friend.  I  assumed  the 
prophet's  role,  and  predicted  that  on  the  western  flank  of 
the  Blue  Ridge  was  kindling  a  light  which  would  one  day 
illumine  our  State,  and  perhaps  send  its  rays  to  far  off  St. 
Croix,  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Golden  Horn. 

Three  years  passed.  I  was  tutor  of  mathematics  in  the 
University.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  President  Swain, 
or,  as  he  was  generally  called.  Governor  vSwain,  read  a 
letter  which  he  had  just  received  from  an  incoming  stu- 
dent. He  remarked  with  a  humorous  twinkle  of  the  eye, 
that  the  writer  was  Zeb  Vance,  a  son  of  an  old  sweetheart 
of  his.  I  do  not  recall  the  words,  but  the  manly  tone  of 
the  letter  impressed  us  all.  It  stated  that  the  writer  had  a 
small  property,  but  it  was  not  then  productive,  and  asked 
for  a  loan  of  three  hundred  dollars,  with  which  to  take  a 
partial  course  in  the  University,  and  at  the  same  time  pur- 
sue his  legal  studies  in  the  Law  School,  then  conducted  by 
Judge  Wm.  H.  Battle  and  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Phillips.  The 
loan  was  readily,  indeed  gladly,  granted  by  the  kind-hearted 
President,  and  was  repaid,  principal  and  interest,  no  great 
while  afterwards  by  the  recipient,  who,  without  tedious 
waiting,  became  a  successful  lawyer,  and  in  six  years  was 
occupying  a  seat  in  the  Plouse  of  Representatives  of  the 

Union. 

3 


1 8  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

In  the  academical  department  the  young  student  elected 
the  course  under  the  President,  includino;-  constitutional 
law,  political  economy  and' intellectual  philosophy,  three 
hours  a  week;  that  under  Dr.  Mitchell,  inchiding chemistry, 
geology  and  mineralogy,  three  hours  a  week,  and  rhetoric 
and  logic  under  Dr.  Wheat,  two  hours.  He  was  thus  what 
is  now  called  an  optional  student,  but  was  then  known  as 
a  "milish" — /.  r.,  a  militia-man,  as  distinguished  from  a 
"regular." 

While  he  appeared  not  to  devote  himself  to  a  diligent 
perusal  of  his  text-books,  his  command  of  his  mental 
faculties  and  quickness  to  learn  were  such  that  his  class 
standing  as  a  rule  was  good.  As  the  contrary  opinion  is 
prevalent,  I  fortify  this  statement  not  only  by  my  own 
recollection  of  what  was  said  at  Faculty  meetings  by  his 
instructors,  but  by  the  clear  and  incontrovertible  testimony 
of  Hon.  S.  F.  Phillips,  once  Solicitor  General  of  the 
United  States,  the  only  survivor  of  those  preceptors. 
President  Swain,  an  incomparable  judge  of  the  gifts  of  a 
politician,  predicted  that  he  would  be  Governor  of  the  State. 
I  call  also  as  witnesses  that  most  worthy  teacher  and  inti- 
mate friend  of  Vance,  Dr.  Richard  H.  Lewis,  of  Kinston, 
who  sat  next  to  him  in  class,  and  also  that  most  intelligent 
farmer,  Captain  John  R.  Hutchins,  likewise  a  class-mate. 
Mr.  Richard  H.  Battle,  of  Raleigh,  remembers  distinctly, 
as  I  do,  that  our  father.  Judge  Battle,  praised  Vance  as  a 
good  student  of  law.  I  regret  that  I  can  find  no  written 
reports  on  this  subject,  but  in  the  old  curriculum  days 
"  milish "  were  such  an  infinitesimal  part  of  University 
life  that  their  standing  does  not  appear  in  the  registrar's 
office. 

Dr.  Lewis  tells  the  following  incident  as  showing  his 
quickness  and  accuracy  of  memory.  It  will  be  admitted 
cither  that  he  learned  with  marvellous  rapidity,  or  that,  on 
tliis  occasion  at  least,  he  had  been  a  faithful  student  before- 
hand. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  I9 

"  One  day,  in  the  recitation  on  international  law,  in 
Gov.  Swain's  room,  we  were  called  npon  to  give  a  list  of 
the  cases  bearing  upon  the  question  of  '  contraband  of  war.' 
There  were  some  thirty  or  forty  cases  cited  in  the  text- 
book, all  of  which  were  required  to  be  accurately  memo- 
rized. Having-  no  memory  worth  speaking  of,  I  had 
written  all  these  cases,  in  pencil,  upon  my  left  boot,  foot 
and  leg.  Vance,  who  always  sat  by  me,  saw  me  reading 
the  cases.  '  Lewis,'  said  he,  '  lend  me  your  leg.'  Without 
waiting  for  my  consent,  he  jerked  my  leg  up  into  his  lap, 
and  rapidly  read  the  names,  and  returned  my  limb.  In  a 
few  minutes  I  was  called  upon  to  recite  the  list.  I  think 
I  gave  three  or  four,  not  more,  and  sat  down  covered  with 
confusion.  '  ]\Ir.  Vance,  advance  to  the  front  and  cite  the 
cases  bearing  upon  this  point,'  said  Gov.  Swain,  with  an 
appreciative  smile  at  his  own  pun.  Vance  rose  promptly  and 
gave  every  one  of  the  cases  with  the  weary  air  of  one  who 
had  been  knowing  the  thing  for  ten  years.  When  he  sat 
down  he  gave  me  a  dig  in  the  ribs  wath  his  elbow,  saying : 
'  Lewis,  why  don't  you  study  your  lesson,  you  lazy  fellow.'  " 

I  cannot  print  this  reminiscence  without  stating,  firstly, 
that  Dr.  Lewis  certainly  is  unjust  to  the  strength  of  his 
own  memory,  and,  secondly,  that  in  the  ante-war  days  it 
was,  by  the  rigid  but  inexplicable  code  of  student  morals, 
considered  perfectly  right  to  use  such  aids  to  memory,  un- 
less the  user  was  aiming  at  high  honors  or  prizes. 

Vance  always,  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of  his  eventful  life, 
retained  a  loving  remembrance  of  his  University  friends. 
I  have  heard  him  repeatedly  say  that  their  friendship  and 
support  had  greatly  helped  him  in  his  political  career.  A 
quotation  from  a  recent  letter  of  Mrs.  Cornelia  Phillips 
Spencer  well  illustrates  this  steadfastness  of  affection: 
"Early  in  1862,  when  Vance  and  his  regiment,  the 
Twenty-Sixth,  retreated  from  near  Newbern,  with  loss  of 
'all  save  honor,'  appeals  were  made  for  blankets  and  fur- 
nishings of  every  sort  for  them.     I  made  up  a  parcel  for 


20  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  Colonel  of  articles  which  I  judged  likely  to  be  useful 
to  a  soldier  in  camp.  I  wrote  Vance  a  letter  with  the  par- 
cel, and  received  from  him  one  of  the  most  tender,  gentle, 
warm-hearted  effusions  I  have  ever  read.  He  wrote  of  Mr. 
Spencer  as  if  he  had  been  'of  kin  '  to  him,  recalling  him 
as  he  knew  him  in  college.  All  this  written  '  in  camp,' 
under  circumstances  that  would  have  been  ample  excuse 
for  not  writing  at  all.  All  that  I  have  ever  known  of  Gov- 
ernor Vance  has  been  of  this  complexion.  He  honored 
every  draft  made  on  his  friendship  and  memory  of  old  days." 

Notwithstanding  his  superabundant  vitality  and  love  of 
fun,  and  notwithstanding  it  was  in  his  day  considered 
manly  and  spirited  to  engage  in  "deviling"  the  Faculty, 
Vance  was  an  orderly  student  and  respectful  to  his  supe- 
riors. One  of  his  class-mates,  once  an  eminent  teacher,  but 
recently  mayor  of  Columbus,  in  Georgia,  Mr.  James  J. 
Slade,  writes  me:  "Naturally  a  sensitive  and  honorable 
man,  being  a  college  beneficiary  (/.  ^.,  receiving  free  tuition), 
he  was  more  prudent  than  many  of  us  wished  him  to  be  on 
student  and  Faculty  differences.  This  prudence  at  first 
was  misinterpreted,  but  a  word  from  his  friend,  Leon  F. 
Siler,  who  was  himself  a  prudent  and  very  honorable  man, 
set  our  minds  right  as  to  Vance."  I  do  not  think  that  a 
sense  of  obligation  to  the  Faculty  for  his  tuition,  and  to 
President  Swain  for  the  loan,  with  which  he  paid  his  other 
expenses,  was  the  only  motive  securing  him  from  rowdy 
conduct.  Like  Slade  himself,  who  was  not  a  benficiary, 
he  had  too  much  kindness  of  heart  and  respect  for  age  and 
authority  to  permit  him  voluntarily  to  annoy  the  profes- 
sors, although  of  course  he  was  an  unrivalled  mimic  of 
their  peculiarities  among  the  boys. 

I  think  it  hardly  probable  that  there  could  be  found  in 
any  institution  a  student,  continuing  only  one  year,  who 
made  an  impression  more  lasting  than  did  young  Vance. 
He  was  a  favorite  with  the  Faculty,  and  yet  the  most 
malignant   fault-finder  never  dreamed  of  applying  to  him 


LIFE   OF   VANCR.  21 

the  ignoble  epithet,  "boot-lick,"  or  as  the  moderns  phrase 
it,  "hooter."  He  was  a  favorite  with  students,  from  the 
most  timid  Freshman  np  to  the  first  honor  Senior  and  the 
law  student  about  to  apply  for  his  license,  even  up  to  those 
great  men  sitting  on  the  loftiest  pinnacle  of  college  glory, 
dight  in  all  the  splendor  of  blue  and  white  regalia,  the 
commencement  chief  marshal  and  chief  ball  manager.  His 
genial  humor  shone  over  all  and  was  delightful  to  all. 
There  was  no  preliminary  formality  or  chilliness  to  pass 
through  in  order  to  obtain  the  friendly  grasp  of  hand  and 
gleam  of  eye.  Good  old  Dr.  ]\Iitchell,  in  a  geological  ex- 
cursion with  his  class,  took  no  offence  when,  passing  by  a 
ruined  mill  house,  Vance  asked  with  seeming  gravity : 
"Doctor,  do  you  think  that  old  mill  house  is  worth  a 
dam?"  Nor  when  the  impudent  irrepressible  called  to  him 
to  deviate  from  his  path  in  order  to  tap  with  his  hammer 
and  investigate  the  character  of  an  alleged  rare  specimen 
of  chlorite,  or  greenstone,  which  turned  out  to  be  a  round, 
ripe  watermelon  captured  from  a  neighboring  field. 

His  delightfully  genial  and  cordial  manner  was  caused 
by  his  large  and  kindly  heart.  He  treated  with  unvarying 
politeness  not  only  the  great  but  the  small.  In  addition 
to  his  equals  and  superiors,  he  won  the  admiration  of  the 
college  servants,  from  the  dignified  Dave  Barham  and 
Doctor  November  to  the  humblest  wood-cutter.  One  of 
these  servants  still  survives,  a  University  janitor  of  fifty 
years,  a  man  of  high  character  and  uncommon  intelligence, 
Wilson  Caldwell.  So  attached  was  he  to  the  gay  moun- 
taineer that,  although  a  member  of  the  Republican  party, 
his  heart  always  compelled  him  to  give  Vance,  whenever 
a  candidate,  his  influence  and  his  vote.  And  whenever,  as 
Governor  or  as  Senator,  or  as  the  chosen  orator  at  com- 
mencement, Vance  visited  the  University,  his  colored 
friends  received  the  same  warm  greeting  and  hand-shake 
as  their  superiors  in  social  standing. 

I  interject  an  episode  which  may  give  a  clearer  idea  of 


22  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

his  manner.  Not  long  before  his  death,  after  he  had 
attained  eminence  by  his  tariff  speeches  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  he  attended  a  fair  of  the  North  Carolina 
Agricultural  Society  as  the  invited  orator.  One  of  his 
old  soldiers,  a  seasoned  veteran,  who  had  passed  through 
a  hundred  storms  of  whizzing  bullets,  with  clothes  rough 
and  unfashionable,  but  with  the  look  and  manner  of  a 
brave  and  true  man,  came  up  bashfully  to  shake  the  hand 
of  his  old  Colonel.  The  Senator  recognized  him  at  once, 
and  his  face  glowed  with  a  kindly  welcome.  Pretending 
to  roll  up  his  sleeve  and  moisten  his  hand  for  a  firmer 
grip,  he  seized  the  old  soldier's  hand  with  enthusiasm, 
shouting  with  cordial  tones:  "  How  are  you,  old  horse?  " 
It  was  delightful  to  witness  the  extreme  pleasure  conferred 
by  this  homely  greeting.  It  could  be  safely  predicted  that 
he  and  his  children  and  children's  children,  and  their 
their  neighbors  too,  would  be  "Vance  men"  forever. 

His  popularity  with  the  students  began  as  soon  as  he 
alighted  from  the  Western  stage  in  front  of  IMiss  Nancy 
Hilliard's  hotel,  a  stranger,  without  a  friend.  Some  of 
his  travelling  companions  were  last  term's  students  return- 
ing. Of  course  these  were  overwhelmed  by  cordial 
greetings  from  their  acquaintances,  and  he  was  neglected 
and  solitary.  Determined  not  to  be  thus  left  out  in  the 
cold,  he  rushed  with  overwhelming  gush  to  a  venerable 
negro  standing  near,  never  seen  before,  and  shook  his  hand 
with  extreme  cordiality.  It  was  not  five  minutes  before 
every  man  in  the  company  had  sought  his  acquaintance 
and  taken  him  in  his  heart.  And  as  the  story  flew  through 
the  village,  he  became  at  once  a  notable  character. 

Oneof  his  class-mates,  who  has  attained  the  highest  rank  in 
the  esteem  of  our  people.  Major  James  W.  Wilson,  writes  me  : 
"  I  remember  well  Vance's  first  appearance  at  the  Hill — home- 
made shoes  and  clothes,  about  three  inches  between  pants  and 
shoes,  showing  his  sturdy  ankles  ;  quick  and  rough  at  re- 
partee, and  mostly  remarkable  for  his  jokes."     But  while 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  23 

not  dressed  in  Parisian  style,  few  could  fail  on  close  ac- 
quaintance to  be  impressed,  as  I  was  in  our  moon-light 
interview  in  Asheville,  with  the  fact  that  he  had  a  brain 
large  and  active;  a  memory  tenacious,  a  nature  overflowing 
with  joyous  love  of  fun,  and  to  a  surprising  degree  accurate 
information  of  many  subjects  and  many  authors.  He 
Npossessed  the  advantage,  rare  in  our  mountain  country,  of 
a  good  library  at  home,  left  to  his  parents  by  his  uncle, 
David  Vance,  who  was  killed  in  a  duel  with  Samuel  P. 
Carson.  As  Captain  Plutchins  says  :  "  He  stood  well  in 
the  class,  and  was  better  informed  on  many  subject  than 
most  of  the  class."  And  as  my  genial  friend,  DuBrutz 
Cutlar,  writes  :  "  I  was  always  astonished  then,  and 
always  afterwards,  at  the  quantity  and  variety  of  things  he 
knew  from  books."  Dr.  Lewis  says  :  "  When  a  question 
was  under  discussion  in  the  class-room,  it  was  wonderful 
to  see  how  much  he  would  get  out  of  it  by  short,  pithy 
suggestions."  Dr.  Lewis,  too,  exposes  one  of  his  tricks, 
occasionally  practiced  in  our  day  on  other  professors. 
This  was,  when  the  lesson  in  chemistry  abounded  in  par- 
ticularly hard  and  unfamiliar  compounds,  to  divert  good 
Dr.  Mitchell  from  the  dreaded  questionings  by  leading  him 
into  a  relation  of  his  personal  experiences  as  a  geologist 
on  Mt.  Mitchell  and  elsewhere  in  Western  Carolina. 
"  Votes  of  thanks  were  frequently  given  Vance  for  tiding 
us  all  safely  over  the  tough  chapters." 

Prof.  Alexander  ]\lclver,  ex-State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  who  was  one  of  the  best  scholars  in  the 
University,  a  very  able  and  well-read  man,  was  in  the  same 
society  and  the  same  fraternity  with  Vance,  and  he  writes 
me  emphatically,  in  substance,  that  he  had  not  only  a  sur- 
prising amount  of  general  culture,  but  also  good  habits 
and  high,  honorable  views  on  all  subjects. 

He  had  the  knack  in  intercourse  with  his  fellows  of  never 
making  the  answer  expected  of  him.  No  matter  what 
subject  was  mentioned  his  reply  was  original  and  peculiar. 


24  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

sometimes  only  surprisino-,  more  often  Inimorons,  occasion- 
ally very  witty.  I  illustrate  this  with  one  or  two  examples, 
which  I  recall,  which,  lacking  the  merry  twinkle  of  his  eye 
and  his  inimitable  manners,  but  feebly  illustrate  Vance,  as 
a  student. 

The  students  were  required  to  join  either  the  Dialectic 
or  the  Philanthropic  or,  as  they  were  commonly  called,  the 
Di.  or  the  Phi.  Society.  In  his  day  there  was  no  recognized 
rule  that  confined  the  western  students  to  the  former  and 
the  eastern  to  the  latter.  Some  one  asked,  "  Vance  :  won't 
you  join  the  Phi-lanthropic  Society?"  "Fie,"  said  he, 
"I'll  die  first!"  a  pun,  sufficiently  obvious  but  which 
brought  its  first  utterer  Chapel  Hill-wide  fame. 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  his  totally  unconventional  manner. 
Richard  Lewis,  "a  grave  and  reverend  senior,"  concluded 
to  pay  him  a  formal  visit  at  his  room.  Being  a  stranger  he 
knocked  at  the  door.  "  Come  in,"  shouted  the  host.  The 
visitor  opened  the  door  and  there  was  Vance,  tilted  back  in 
a  chair,  split-bottomed  of  course,  with  feet  on  the  window- 
sill,  nor  did  he  change  his  jDosture.  "  j\Iy  name  is  Lewis," 
said  the  visitor.  "  Aline's  Vance  ;  take  a  seat,"  was  the 
reply,  as  the  sitter  stretched  back  over  his  shoulder  a  hand 
of  mountainous  size.  Seeing  an  unoccupied  pipe  by  a 
closed  box,  Lewis  remarked,  "Is  this  tobacco  or  what?" 
Puffing  a  wreath  of  smoke  from  his  lips  the  host  said,  "  It's 
what.  Help  yourself?  "  This  sounds  trivial  in  the  telling, 
but  a  young  man  can  see  how  quickly  after  such  beginning 
formal  acquaintance  ripened  into  jovial  friendship,  which 
in  this,  as  in  most  instances,  was  never  severed. 

While  Vance  was  in  the  University  a  temperance  lecturer 
of  great  power,  Philip  S.  White,  started  a  total  abstinence 
society,  which  was  quite  numerousl}'  joined.  One  morning 
before  breakfast  a  knot  of  students  gathered  around  the 
well,  which  stands  in  the  quadrangle,  and  contains  water 
so  pure  arid  cool  that  our  alumni  ever  long  for  it  as  they 
journey  through  life.     Lewis  said:  "Vance,  why  are  those 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  25 

boys  gathered  about  the  well  ?"  "  Why,  they  are  members 
of  Philip  S.  White's  Temperance  Society.  Tom  Blank  got 
on  a  spree  last  night — Governor  Swain  was  in  hot  pursuit 
of  him.  As  he  ran  by  the  well  he  threw  his  tickler  in  and 
broke  it  on  the  rocks  of  the  curbing.  Those  temperance 
fellows  have  been  drinking  water  since  day-break  to  get  a 
share  of  that  half  pint  of  whiskey." 

When  Vance's  class  was  ready  to  stand  their  examina- 
tion for  law  license  his  cousin,  Augustus  S.  Merrimon, 
came  to  Chapel  Hill  on  his  way  to  Raleigh  with  the  same 
object.  He  had  been  reading  without  a  teacher,  a  danger- 
ous plan,  as  the  reader  is  almost  sure  to  think  erroneously 
that  because  he  understands  the  text  he  knows  it  well 
enough  to  explain  it  to  another.  Merrimon  had  a  strong 
brain,  which  enabled  him  to  reach  the  dignities  of  United 
States  Senator  and  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
North  Carolina.  But  on  consenting  to  underpfo  an  exami- 
nation  under  Mr.  Phillips,  it  w^s  ascertained,  as  expected, 
that  his  knowledge  of  Blackstone  and  other  works  was  not 
sufficiently  clear  and  accurate,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  undergo 
the  ordeal  of  vigorous  and  minute  questioning  as  success- 
fully as  those  who  had  the  advantage  of  a  year's  training. 
His  distress  was  evident,  and  Vance  whispered  to  his 
neighbor :  "  He  came  in  a  merry  mon.  Pie  goes  out  a 
sorry  mon."  It  is  proper  to  add  that  none  the  less  he  passed 
the  Court,  and  entered  without  delay  on  a  successful 
career.  In  the  course  of  time  he  beat  and  then  was  beaten 
by  Vance  for  the  United  States  Senate. 

Vance's  versatility  was  shown  strikingly  in  a  mock  trial 
of  the  torturing  animal  called  "  the  College  Bore,"  a  being 
who  has  no  love  of  books,  and  passes  most  of  his  time  in 
impeding  the  progress  of  others  by  untimely  visits  and  in- 
ane conversation  or  senseless  boisterousness.  The  youth 
who  bore  this  unhonored  title  in  1852  was  indicted  before 
a  moot  court  for  the  crime  of  being  a  common  nuisance. 
Bernard    Gretter,    who    had    extraordinary    talents,    was 


26  LIFE  OF  VAXCE. 

selected  to  conduct  the  prosecution  and  Vance  the  defence. 
Both  distinguished  themselves  by  really  able  speeches. 
That  of  the  latter  not  only  abounded  in  wit  and  luunorous 
illustrations,  but  earnestly  pressed  cogent  reasons  in  sup- 
port of  the  plea  of  "not  guilty."  He  pursued  in  the  main 
the  line  of  argument  used  by  the  eloquent  S.  S.  Pren- 
tiss in  his  celebrated  defence  of  the  rapacious  bed-bug  ; 
that  the  bore,  like  the  bed-bug,  was  walking  in  the  path 
which  the  God  of  Nature  marked  out  for  him,  and  there- 
fore, in  a  way  inexplicable  to  us,  was  Serving  his  Creator. 
He  urged  that  the  bore  was  designed  to  aid  in  fitting  his 
fellow-men  for  heaven  by  teaching  them  patience  and  for- 
titude under  affliction.  Moreover,  he  insisted  that  they, 
after  experiencing  the  tortures  of  the  company  of  the  ac- 
cused, could  better  bear  the  trials  which  all  must  endure 
in  this  life.  Of  course  he  pressed  the  point  that  this  ter- 
rible foe  of  society  was  not  compos  7}icntis^  and  therefore 
on  the  plea  of  idiocy  not  guilty. 

I  forgot  what  the  decision  of  the  jury  was,  but  certainly 
the  reputation  of  the  speakers  was  much  enhanced  by  this 
display  of  forensic  oratory.  Gretter  was  not  inferior  to 
Vance  in  genius  but  lacked  his  ambition,  his  power  of 
winning  popular  favor,  and  his  steady  attention  to  duty. 

In  the  Dialectic  Society  Vance  found  an  excellent  field 
for  the  cultivation  of  his  powers  of  oratory  and  extempore 
speaking.  In  it  were  found  generally  a  majority  of  the 
students.  It  was  managed  in  his  day  with  a  decorum,  a 
respect  for  rules  of  order,  and  a  strictness  of  discipline, 
which  I  have  not  seen  equalled  in  any  other  deliberative 
body.  The  branches  of  Congress  and  of  the  State  General 
Assembly  are  not  comparable  to  it  in  this  regard.  While 
of  course  many  weak  speeches  were  made  by  the  members, 
there  were  always  debaters  wdio  studied  the  questions  with 
care,  and  whose  efforts  were  of  a  high  order. 

Vance  cultivated  this  field  with  success.  In  readiness, 
tact,  wit,   aptness   of   illustration,  and  occasional  flashes  of 


IJFK  OF  VANCK.  27 

eloquence  ;  he  had  no  superiors,  nor  was  he  deficient  in 
knowledge  of  the  subject  under  debate,  Notwitlistanding 
all  his  rollicksonie  i^aiety,  he  was  really  a  hard  student. 
He  possessed  great  power  of  concentrating  all  his  faculties 
at  will,  and  was  accustomed  to  turn  from  his  gay  com- 
panions and  make  rapid  progress  by  desperate  exertions. 
His  memory  was  strong  and  accurate,  and  his  perfect  self- 
command  and  easy  flow  of  words,  made  him  a  formidable 
adversary  of  the  ablest  debater  in  the  University. 

Sometimes  he  gave  free  play  to  his  powers  of  jocoseness 
and  ridicule.  On  one  occasion  especially  he  indulgd  for 
half  an  hour  in  such  wealth  of  humor  as  to  completely 
upset  the  gravity  and  deeorum  of  the  members  of  the  body, 
and,  as  a  fine  was  levied  for  every  offence  of  audible  laugh- 
ter, he  added  largely  to  the  society  treasury,  while  himself 
not  transgressing  the  law.  I  have  examined  the  books  of 
the  treasurer  and  find  that  his  fines  did  not  exceed  twenty 
cents  per  month,  which,  all  old  students  will  admit,  shows 
a  regularity  of  attention  to  duty  and  orderly  conduct  quite 
remarkable. 

One  of  his  most  striking  characteristics  was  absolute 
freedom  from  timidity  of  any  kind.  He  was  at  his  ease 
anywhere  and  in  an}-  company.  He  was  never  known  to 
show  the  least  evidence  of  fear  or  abashment.  Stao;e-frio-ht 
was  unknown  to  him.     When   initiated    into    the  bog-us 

o 

fraternity  called  by  the  name  of  the  Mystic  Circle,  he 
added  immensely  to  the  delights  of  the  occasion  by  his 
laughable  answers  to  all  the  questions  propounded  by  the 
dread  tribunal,  whereas  the  amusement  is  usually  caused 
by  the  awkwardness  and  confusion  of  the  victims.  And 
yet  he  did  not  display  any  effrontery  of  the  brazen  kind. 
He  had  a  degree  of  self-confidence  rare  among  students, 
but  it  arose  from  a  proper  estimate  of  his  powers.  He  was 
never  accused  of  self-conceit  or  presumption,  or  what  is 
well  expressed  in  the  slang  word,  cheekiness. 

While  at  the  University  Vance  had  his  sleeping  room  on 


28  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

Governor  Swain's  lot,  and  won  his  especial  confidence, 
admiration  and  affection. 

When,  at  the  instance  of  the  Trustees  and  Faculty,  he 
delivered  at  the  commencement  of  1878  an  eloquent  address 
in  memoriam  of  the  Governor's  life  and  character,  he  said  : 
"  I  had  the  honor — and  I  consider  it  both  an  honor  and  a 
happy  fortune — to  be  on  terms  of  confidential  intimacy 
with  him  from  my  first  entrance  into  the  University  until 
his  death.  We  were  in  the  utmost  accord  on  all  questions 
pertaining  to  Church  and  State,  and  during  my  subsequent 
career,  especially  in  those  troublous  years  of  war,  I  con- 
sulted him  more  frequently  than  any  other  man  except 
Governor  Graham.  So  affectionately  was  his  interest  in 
my  welfare  always  manifested  that  many  people  supposed 
we  were  relatives,  and  I  have  frequently  been  asked  if 
such  were  not  the  fact."  This  regard  was  repaid  by  life- 
long love  and  veneration,  and  by  the  noble  memoir  from 
which  I  have  given  an  extract.  His  affection  for  the 
University  and  gratitude  for  the  good  she  had  done  him 
were  likewise  ever  present  with  him.  By  the  influence  of 
the  great  offices  to  which  he  was  elevated,  and  the  hold  he 
had  on  the  hearts  of  the  people,  by  his  wise  counsels  and 
powerful  advocacy,  he  proved  himself  always  one  of  its 
most  faithful  and  efficient  children. 

It  would  not  be  candid  in  me  not  to  admit  that  there 
were  exceptions  to  the  general  rule  of  admiration  of  Vance. 
Ownng  to  the  example  of  President  Swain,  punning  was 
fashionable  at  Chapel  Hill,  and  his  pupils  naturally  followed 
him,  hand  longo  intervallo.  While  Vance  was  the  author 
of  some  puns  which  were  really  witty,  he  necessarily,  as  all 
punsters  are,  was  guilty  of  making  some  atrociously  bad, 
mere  plays  upon  words,  often  causing  irritation  by  inter- 
rui^tion  of  conversation  upon  grave  subjects.  His  mind, 
too,  was  stored  with  anecdotes,  derived  from  the  thousands 
of  people  of  all  degrees  of  intelligence  and  education,  whom 
he  had  met — rough   hunters  among  the  mountains,  horse 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  29 

drovers  and  lioo;  drivers  alono^  the  great  French  Broad  Turn- 
pike, lawyers  and  their  clients  in  the  Buncombe  courts, 
fun-loving,  ubiquitous,  commercial  drummers,  delighting 
to  tell  the  bright  summer  hotel  clerk  (Vance  held  this  office 
for  several  months)  their  latest,  most  humorous,  and  occa- 
sionally fuliginous  yarns. 

His  retentive  memory  never  lost  one  of  these  stories,  and 
he  was  always  ready  with  or  without  notice  to  reproduce 
them.  Of  course  there  were  some  who  concluded  errone- 
ously that  a  chronic  pun-maker  and  habitual  story-teller, 
one  whom  they  had  never  seen  in  a  serious  mood,  must  lack 
the  essential  elements  of  a  great  man. 

Then  again,  in  the  exuberance  of  his  humor  he  was 
guilty  of  what  his  mature  judgment  disapproved,  making 
jocular  use  of  texts  of  Scripture.  This  was  often  extremely 
pleasant  and  harmless,  but  at  other  times  so  irreverent  as 
to  shock  men  of  a  more  serious  temperament.  Hence  they 
regarded  him  as  wanting  a  religious  nature. 

But  these  conclusions  were  wrong.  Vance  read  good 
books,  and  mastered  them  too.  And  underlying  his  super- 
ficial jollity  and  frivolity  was  a  stratum  of  high  resolve 
and  deep  respect  for  the  True,  the  Beautiful  and  the  Good. 

I  use  Mr.  Slade's  words  in  describing  his  departure  from 
Chapel  Hill,  after  he  had  been  examined  by  the  Supreme 
Court  at  Raleigh,  and  had  obtained  license  to  enter  on  the 
practice  of  the  law.  Says  he  :  "  My  last  sight  of  him 
produced  a  humorous  sense  of  pleasure  that  has  clung  to 
my  memory  through  all  the  grand  heroic  days,  that  have 
passed  since  then.  He  told  us  good-bye  in  front  of  Miss 
Nancy's  hotel,  and  mounted  the  stage  coach  going  west. 
We  waved  our  hands  to  him,  and  as  he  put  his  foot  upon 
the  front  wheel  to  take  his  seat  with  the  driver,  he  made  an 
effort  at  a  pun,  a  play  upon  the  wheel,  which  was  so  badly 
put  together  that  we  were  unable  to  reconstruct  it.  Some 
of  us  told  him  to  persevere,  he  would  succeed  after  awhile. 
Nothing  daunted   he  shot  another  at  us,  and  left  us  in 


30  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

pleasant  remembrance  of  him.  We  never  met  afterwards 
so  as  to  speak  together,  though  we  passed  each  other  on  the 
field  in  Virginia." 

Thus,  with  a  jest  on  his  lips  hiding  the  tears  in  his  eyes, 
the  stout-hearted  young  giant  journeys  to  his  mountain 
home.  God  speed  him  in  safety  through  the  dangers  of 
life  !  lyittle  conscious  is  he  of  the  sloughs  and  lions  and 
treacherous  Apollyons  in  the  way,  but  with  a  body,  healthy 
and  strong,  manners  genial,  and  a  kindly  heart,  a  brain 
athletic  and  versatile,  with  rare  power  of  winning  friends, 
with  a  bounteous  gift  of  persuasive  speech,  with  a  spirit 
aspiring  and  ever  self-reliant,  with  integrity  incorruptible, 
and  dauntless  pluck,  the  crown  of  success  awaits  him. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  3I 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MARRIAGE,  rUBUC  LIFE  BEGUN. — BY  GEN.  R.  B.  VANCE. 

Marriage  of  Z.  B.  Vance— His  Children— His  Public  Life  Begun— Is 
Solicitor  of  Buncombe  County— Fist  Fight— Duel  Narrowly 
Avoided— Candidate  for  the  Legislature— Joint  Canvass  and  Great 
Triumph— Is  Defeated  for  the  State  Senate— Joint  Canvass  for 
Congress  With  Avery — Is  Elected — Tom  Corwin,  of  Ohio,  Becomes 
His  Friend  and  Calls  to  See  Him  in  Prison— Speech  in  Knoxville 
—Humorous  Application  of  Scripture— Second  Race  for  Congress 
—Joint  Canvass  With  Coleman — Parable  of  the  Fig  Tree. 

a  BOUT  this  time,  say  August  36,  1853,  Zebulon  B. 
Vance  was  married  to  Miss  Harriette  Newell  Espy, 
at  the  residence  of  Col.  Chas.  McDowell,  at  Quaker 
Meadows,  Burke  County.  She  was  a  woman  of  fine  mind 
and  noted  for  her  ardent  piety  and  excellent  qualities. 

Mrs.  Vance  was  born  in  Salisbury,  N.  C,  July  nth, 
1832  ;  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  her  six- 
teenth year. 

Z.  B.  Vance,  shortly  after  being  licensed  to  practice  law, 
became  a  candidate  for  Solicitor  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and 
Quarter  Sessions.  He  was  elected  by  the  magistrates  of 
the  county  of  Buncombe.  His  competitor  was  A.  S.  Mer- 
rimon,  afterwards  United  States  Senator  and  finally  Chief 
Justice  of  North  Carolina.  He  was  truly  a  distinguished 
and  noble  man,  not  only  as  United  States  Senator  and 
Chief  Justice,  but  in  all  the  walks  of  life. 

Not  long  after  Zeb  was  elected  Solictor  of  Buncombe  he 
had  an  encounter  with  a  young  lawyer  at  the  door  of  the 
Court  room,  within  thirty  feet  of  where  Squires  Blackstock, 
Patton  and  Burgwin  were  holding  Court.  A  shout  was 
heard  just  outside  the  Court  room,  and  the  venerable 
Justices  ran  out  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  What  they 
saw  was  truly    laugh-provoking.     The    belligerents    were 


32  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

standing  about  three  feet  apart,  and  Zeb  was  holding  in  his 
hand  a  wisp  of  his  opponent's  hair,  jerked  out  in  the  fight. 
Squire  Blackstock   came   out,  without   his   hat,  and  after 
gazing  sternly   at   the  fighters,  he   commanded  the  peace, 
and  in  a  little  while  order  was   restored,  but  the  belliger- 
ents did   not  at  once  return  to  the  Court  room.     A  duel 
was  feared  as  a  result    of    the  fisticuff    and    hair-pulling. 
Friends  interposed  to  make  up  the  trouble  and  to  prevent 
serious  consequences.     Vance  was  seen  first,  and  readily 
agreed  to  entertain  terms  of  settlement.     The   other  man 
was  found   in  his   room  washing  off  the  blood,  and  very 
angry,  exhibiting  a  blood-shot  eye  received  in  the  encoun- 
ter,  and  saying  he  could   not   look  upon   any  man  as   a 
gentleman  who  would  gouge  in  a  fight.     This  was  reported 
to  Vance  as  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  an  adjustment, 
when  Vance  explained  that   the  gouging  was   not  inten- 
tional,   but   that  in  grappling  his  antagonist  to  draw  him 
close  and  prevent  blows,  he  unintentionally  struck  his  long 
finger  against  the  eye  of  his  adversary.     This  explanation 
was  satisfactory,  and  the  difficulty  was  amicably  adjusted. 
Vance  went  on  with    the  practice   of  law  until  he  was 
called  upon  to  run  for  the  Legislature.     A  highly  respected 
gentleman,  a  good  deal  older  than  Vance,  was  his  com- 
petitor, who  objected,  among  other  points,  to  young  Vance's 
age.     The  court  room  was   crowded  when  this  occurred. 
Zeb  apologized  for  his  youth,  and  declared  that  he  would 
have  cheerfully  been  born  at  an  earlier  date  if  it  had  been 
in  his  power  ;  that  his  father  and  mother  gave  him   no 
chance  whatever  about  the  matter,  and  he  humbly  begged 
pardon,  and  said  he  would  try  and  do  better  next   time. 
The  ujDroar  in  the  court  house  was  tremendous,  so  much  so 
that  his  competitor  got   angry  and  said  he  liked  to  see  a 
smart  boy,  but  this  one  was  entirely  too  smart.     Then  the 
boys  yelled,  whooped  and  cheered  like  mad  men,  and  that 
day's  work,  beyond  question,  secured  Zcb's  election  to  the 
General  Assembly. 


AGE  ABOUT  28. 


UFE   OF   VANCE.  33 

After  Vance's  return  from  Raleigh,  and  at  the  next 
election,  he  was  a  candidate  for  State  Senator,  and  was 
opposed  by  Col.  David  Coleman,  deceased.  Coleman  de- 
feated Vance  in  that  race,  the  Democratic  party  being 
stronger  at  the  time,  under  the  influence  Gen.  Thomas  L. 
Clingman,  Vance  being  a  Whig.  //■-^ 

In  a  short  time  Gen.  Clingman  was  appointed  by  the.' ' 
Governor  to  the  United  States  Senate,  and  Zeb,  young  as 
he  was,  became  a  candidate  for  Congress.  The  distin- 
guished Waightstill  W.  Avery  was  Vance's  opponent.  They 
had  a  hard  canvass,  beginning  at  Murphy  and  ending  at 
Wilkesboro.  At  many  points  in  the  campaign  the  Whigs 
were  down  in  the  mouth  when  they  saw  Zeb,  He  was  so 
boyish  in  his  appearance,  with  his  long  hair  hanging  down 
his  back,  that  they  despaired  of  him,  especially  so  at  Wilkes- 
boro. But  wdien  they  heard  him  the  enthusiasm  was 
almost  boundless.     Vance  was  elected  by  3,700  majority. 

Among  the  life-long  friends  that  young  Vance  made  in 
Washington  was  the  Hon.  Tom  Corwin,  of  Ohio.  While 
Zebulon  was  a  prisoner  of  war  in  the  Old  Capitol  prison, 
in  Washington  city,  who  should  step  into  the  old  prison 
to  see  him  but  Tom  Corwin,  of  Ohio.  After  cordial  greet- 
ing on  both  sides,  they  sat  down  for  a  friendly  chat,  and 
Zeb  regaled  Governor  Corwin  with  prison  jokes  and  inci- 
dents. Finally  Tom  said,  somewhat  seriously :  "  Zeb, 
what  has  been  the  matter  with  you  down  there  in  the  South? 
I  have  not  been  able  to  catch  the  hang  of  it."  "  Nor  I," 
said  Zeb,  "but  I  am  likely  to  now."  Tom  said,  with  his 
face  beaming  with  patriotic  fun  :  "  A  man  that  can  face 
extremities  like  this  with  cheerfulness,  and  be  the  life  of 
the  prison,  cannot  remain  here  if  Tom  Corwin  can  get  him 
out." 

On  Vance's  return  from  his  first  Congress — only  part  of 
a  term,  as  Gen.  Clingman  was  appointed  United  States 
Senator  during  the  Congress — he  was  invited  to  Knoxville, 
Tenn.,   to  speak  at  a  great  Whig  mass-meeting.     He  ac- 


34  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

cepted  the  invitation  and  carried  the  day.  On  a  seat  just 
before  Vance  was  a  distinguished  and  learned  Presbyterian 
clergyman.  He  watched  the  long-haired  boy  with  great 
attention.  Something  had  been  said  in  the  newspapers 
about  appropriating  $100,000,000  for  Buchanan  to  use  in 
buying  the  Spanish  officials  and  consequently  the  Island  of 
Cuba.  Vance  arraigned  Buchanan  on  the  charge  in  a 
pretty  severe  manner,  and  declared  that  the  Scriptural 
phrase,  "  Mene  mene  tekel  upharsin,"  fitted  the  President. 
After  quoting  the  famous  text  he  paused,  looked  around  on 
his  audience  and  said  :  "  I  don't  know  whether  a  single 
one  of  my  hearers  knows  the  literal  reading  of  that  awful 
Scripture  or  not.  It  means,"  he  said,  "  Jeems,  Jeems,  you 
stole  that  money."  The  large  crowd  roared  with  laughter, 
and  the  preacher,  expecting  to  hear  "  thou  art  weighed  in 
the  balances  and  found  wanting,"  was  leaning  forward  in 
his  chair,  when  he  lost  his  balance  and  fell  to  the  floor. 
It  is  not  known  whether  the  preacher  accepted  Vance's 
translation  of  the  Hebrew  or  not. 

The  young  Congressman's  next  competitor  was  the  Hon. 
David  Coleman,  who  had  until  1844  ^^  thereabouts  been  a 
a  midshipman  in  the  United  States  Navy,  but  who  had 
resigned  and  studied  law  at  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina. Coleman  was  remarkably  brilliant  and  powerful  in 
debate,  always  ready  and  fluent,  and  as  brave  as  a  lion  on 
the  field  or  in  the  forum,  and  it  was  no  light  task  that 
Vance  had  before  him  to  meet  such  an  accomplished 
debater.  Remember  also,  reader,  that  in  those  days  it  was 
characteristic  of  the  stump  orator  to  have 

"  That  stern  joy  which  warriors  feel 

In  meeting  foemen  worthy  of  their  steel." 

There  was  no  skulking  in  those  days.  "  Face  to  face 
and  hilt  to  hilt  "  was  the  manner  of  the  men  in  the  politi- 
cal arena  of  that  period.  There  was  no  sliding  behind  a 
competitor  and  in  secret  trying  to  stab  him  in  the  back. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  35 

A  kniglitlier  spirit  prevailed,  and  if  one  competitor  had 
anything  to  say  he  said  it  in  the  presence  of  the  other,  and 
took  all  the  conseqnenccs. 

So  Zebulon  B.  Vance  and  David  Coleman,  both  brilliant 
and  noble  yonng  men,  began  their  joint  canvass  at  Fort 
Hambrec,  in  Cherokee,  now  Clay  County,  Coleman  as  a 
Democrat  and  Vance  as  an  old  line  Whig.  The  canvass 
was  waged  on  the  lines  of  the  issues  of  the  old  parties,  and 
the  business  of  Vance  was  to  break  the  hold  that  Democ- 
racy had  on  the  people,  and  that  of  Coleman  was  to  hold 
them  to  it.  One  issue  that  Coleman  tried  hard  to  fight 
his  competitor  with  was  the  fact  that  at  one  time  Vance 
had  favored  the  principles  of  the  American  party,  when 
the  enticing  cry  was,  "  Put  none  but  Americans  on  guard." 
He  drew  frightful  pictures  of  the  "  Know  Nothings,"  with 
their  secret  meetings,  their  oaths,  etc.,  which  once  had 
been  potent  and  effective  to  talk  about.  However,  they 
were  now  beginning  to  lose  their  force  and  effect.  Thus 
it  turned  out  that  Vance  perceived  that  the  "  raw  head  and 
bloody  bones "  stories  of  his  competitor  concerning  the 
Know  Nothings  did  not  amount  to  much.  He  told  this  on 
Col.  Coleman  :  That  he  was  traveling  along  and  saw  a 
man  plowing  in  his  field.  He  hitched  his  horse  and  went 
on  foot  to  the  man,  his  hair  standing  like  bristles  on  his 
head  and  the  sweat  falling  from  his  brow.  When  he  got 
near  enough  to  the  man  he  cried  out :  "  My  friend,  have 
you  heard  the  news  ?  "  The  man  dropped  his  plow  in 
alarm,  held  up  his  hands  and  cried  out :  "  What  in  the 
world  is  it?  "  The  Colonel  said  :  "  The  Know  Nothings 
are  rising."  "  Can  it  be  possible,"  cried  the  man  ;  "  if  so, 
just  let  'em  rise."  At  Asheville  Colonel  Coleman  spoke 
first,  and  his  speech  was  remarkably  brilliant  and  power- 
ful. Vance's  friends  thought  he  could  not  successfully 
answer  it.  Coleman's  speech  was  applauded  throughout. 
He  charged  Vance  with  voting  to  pension  the  soldiers  of 
the  W^ar  of  1812.     Vance,  in  answer,  described  the  War  of 


36  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

181 2,  the  old  veterans  rallying  to  the  defence  of  the  capi- 
tal of  the  nation,  the  peace  that  followed,  and  the  easy 
times  now  in  the  conntry,  to  snch  an  extent  as  to  make 
some  of  our  leaders  feel  authorized  in  advocating  an  act  to 
use  millions  of  dollars  in  corrupting  Spanish  officials  in  our 
favor  so  that  we  could  get  hold  of  Cuba.  Then,  in  turn, 
he  pictured  the  old  soldier  approaching  the  capitol  on  his 
crutches,  with  a  petition  in  his  hands,  asking  of  Congress 
the  pitiful  sum  of  eight  dollars  a  month  with  which  to 
smooth  his  passage  to  the  grave.  Presently  a  young 
gentleman  would  appear  at  the  door  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives and  say  to  the  weather  beaten  veteran  :  "  Go 
away  ;  we  have  other  use  for  our  money."  The  effect  of 
this  effort  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  heard  it. 
Strong  men  wept  throughout  the  court  room,  and  the  old 
men  in  the  place  became  as  little  children  when  they 
remembered  what  the  soldiers  had  done  for  our  country 
and  how  little  a  return  had  been  made  them.  The  senti- 
ment of  Burns,  the  people's  poet,  fired  the  hearts  and  filled 
the  eyes  of  the  hearers. 

"  The  poor  old  soldier  ne'er  despise 

Nor  count  him  as  a  stranger; 
Remember  he  is  his  country's  stay 

In  the  day  and  hour  of  danger." 

Towards  the  close  of  the  campaign  Colonel  Coleman,  in 
his  speech,  quoted  the  parable  of  the  barren  fig  tree,  and 
applied  it  to  Vance,  saying  he  had  been  in  Congress  and 
that  there  was  no  fruit  thereof  to  be  seen,  "  and  now,"  he 
shouted  out,  "  fellow  citizens,  cut  him  down."  The  friends 
of  Congressman  Vance  were  low-spirited  when  Colonel 
Coleman  closed.  Tliey  could  scarcely  look  up.  Vance 
soon  revived  them  into  life  and  hope  by  his  keen  remarks, 
and  turning  to  the  Colonel,  he  said  his  Scripture  quota- 
tions were  unfortunate.  "The  facts  are,"  he  said,  "that 
the  Lord  went  into  the  garden  with  the  gardener,  and  see- 
ing no  fruit  on  the  fig  tree,  lie  said  to  the  gardener,  '  cut  it 


UFE    OF   VANCR.  2>7 

down  ;'  but  the  gardener  answered,  'not  so,  Lord,  but  let 
it  stand  another  year,  and  I  will  dig  about  it,'  etc.,  '  and 
then  if  it  bears  no  fruit  cut  it  down.'  Now  gentlemen,"  said 
Zeb,  "  all  things  according  to  Scripture."  He  then  ap- 
plied the  parable  first  to  Avery,  his  first  competitor,  who 
had  digged  about  him,  and  then  to  Coleman,  his  last  com- 
petitor, who  was  doing  the  other,  and  said  :  "  If  I  then  do 
not  bear  fruit,  cut  me  down."  It  was  enough.  The 
answer  was  so  complete  and  so  sudden  that  such  a 
shout  had  never  been  heard  in  the  old  court  house  as 
went  up  that  day,  and  perhaps  another  such  has  not  been 
heard  there  since.  Vance  defeated  his  eloquent  opponent 
by  1,900  votes. 

Vance  was  at  Traphill,  Wilkes  County,  the  day  of  the 
election,  where  he  received  a  solid  vote,  and  often  after- 
wards he  spoke  gratefully  of  the  old  Whigs  who  went  up 
in  procession  and  cast  their  votes  for  him  that  day. 

On  his  return  to  Buncombe,  his  native  county,  he  passed 
through  a  gap  of  the  mountain  in  Watauga,  and  overtook 
an  old  man  driving  an  ox-cart.  The  old  fellow  was  bare- 
foot, and  had  one  knit  suspender  to  hold  up  his  overalls, 
while  a  lock  of  stiff  hair  shot  up  through  a  hole  in  the 
crown  of  his  hat.  Vance  said  :  "  Hurrah  for  Coleman." 
The  old  man  stopped  his  ox  team  and  said  :  "  If  you  will 
wait  until  I  get  to  you  I'll  wear  out  the  ground  with  you." 
Zeb  had  to  hasten  and  explain,  which  he  did  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  staunch  old  Whig. 

And  now  comes  something  painful  to  remember.  Some 
unpleasant  words  had  passed  between  Vance  and  Coleman 
during  the  canvass.  Coleman  demanded  an  apology, 
which  Vance  refused  to  give.  A  challenge  to  fight  a  duel 
was  the  result,  which  was  accepted  by  Vance,  and  the  day 
and  place  agreed  upon.  To  this  writer  it  is  not  known 
who  was  the  second  of  Coleman,  but  that  of  Vance  was 
Samuel  Brown,  son  of  William  J.  Brown,  of  Buncombe 
County.     A    more  gallant  and   noble  man   than   Sammy 


38  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Brown  could  not  be  found.  He  practiced  Zebulon  in  the 
dense  woods  near  Arden,  in  Buncombe.  Before  the  day 
arrived,  and  just  before,  one  of  the  best  men  this  section 
ever  produced.  Dr.  James  F.  E.  Hardy,  succeeded  in  set- 
tling the  difficulty  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 
The  beloved  Doctor  has  since  passed  to  his  rest,  but  his 
lovable  and  noble  character  remains  as  a  legacy  for  the 
people,  and  in  letters  of  imperishable  beauty,  exemplify 
and  set  forth  the  doctrine  of  the  sermon  on  the  mount, 
"blessed  are  the  peace  makers." 


UFE  OF  VANCE.  39 


CHAPTER  V. 

LEGISI.ATIVE  AND  CONGRESSIONAL  RECORD. 

In  the  Legislature  of  1854 — His  Votes  for  Speaker  and  Other  Officers — 
Committees  Assigned  to — His  Associates  and  Acquaintances — Mo- 
tions and  Resolutions  Offered — Bills  Introduced — Memorial  from 
Citizens  of  Buncombe — Offers  an  Amendment  to  Revenue  Bill 
Not  Favoring  Free  Trade — Distinguished  Men  in  Senate  and 
House,  Including  His  Subsequent  Competitors  for  Congress  and 
Governor — Elected  to  Congress  in  1858 — His  First  Speech — His 
Second  Speech — Tariff,  Public  Lands  and  Pensions  to  Soldiers  of 
1812 — In  Thirty-Sixth  Congress — Memorable  Contest  for  Speaker, 
Lasting  Two  Months — Short  Speeches — Witty  Remarks— His 
Votes  and  Patriotic  Sentiments — Distinguished  Men  in  House  and 
Senate — Exciting  Debates — Harper's  Ferry — ^John  Brown's  Raid — 
Helper's  Impending  Crisis,  Etc. — Interesting  Scenes — Incidents 
and  Anecdotes. 

FN  the  Legislature  of  1854,  being  a  Whig,  Vance  voted  for 
j[  Jas.  S.  Amis,  of  Granville,  for  Speaker,  against  Sam'l 
P.  Hill,  of  Caswell.  .  The  Democrats  being  in  the  majority, 
Hill  was  elected.  He  also  voted  for  Dan'l  M.  Barringer 
for  United  States  Senator,  against  David  S.  Reid,  to  fill 
the  unexpired  term  of  W.  P.  Mangum,  deceased,  and  for 
Geo.  E.  Badger  against  Asa  Biggs  as  successor  to  Badger. 

He  also  voted  for  R.  P.  Buxton  against  Robt.  Strange 
for  Solicitor  of  the  Fayetteville  District,  and  for  Sam'l 
J.  Person  for  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  against  W.  B. 
Wright.  Person  was  a  Democrat,  and  probably  the  only 
candidate,  as  Wright  received  but  five  votes.  Vance  was 
on  the  following  standing  committees:  Library,  Educa- 
tion and  Private  Bills.  On  the  third  day  of  the  session  he 
nominated  John  P.  Wheat  for  Engrossing  Clerk,  but  sub- 
sequently withdrew  him. 

On  the  5th  day  of  December  he  voted  to  emancij^ate 
Jere,  a  slave,  of  Mecklenburg  county,  upon  a  bill  introduced 


r 


40  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

by  W.  R.  Myers.  On  December  gtli  a  motion  was  made 
that  the  Legislature  adjourn  on  the  23d  to  meet  the  first 
Monday  in  November  following.  Vance  offered  an  amend- 
ment that  when  the  Legislature  adjourn  it  be  to  meet  in 
Asheville  on  July  ist.  The  motion  failed  to  pass.  On 
December  12th  he  introduced  a  bill  to  incorporate  the 
Holstein  Conference  Female  College  at  Asheville,  which 
was  duly  passed. 

On  December  i6th  Vance,  from  the  committee  to  whom 
was  referred  a  bill  to  distribute  the  common  school  fund 
among  the  several  counties  of  the  State  according  to  the 
white  poj)ulation,  made  a  minority  report  in  favor  of  the 
bill.  And  on  the  same  day  he  introduced  a  bill  to  incor- 
porate the  Asheville  Mutual  Insurance  Company.  On 
December  19th,  from  the  select  committee  to  whom  was 
referred  the  invitation  from  the  Magistrate  of  Police  of  the 
city  of  Wilmington,  tendering  the  hospitalities  of  the  citizens 
of  that  place  during  the  Christmas  holidays,  Vance  reported 
in  favor  of  accepting  the  invitation,  and  accordingly^  a  recess 
of  the  two  Houses  was  taken  from  Friday,  2  2d,  to  Wednes- 
day, 27th. 

On  January  i8th  he  presented  a  memorial  from  citizens 
of  Buncombe  to  exempt  certain  persons  from  working  on 
the  Greenville  plank  road.  And  on  January  27th  he  sub- 
mitted an  amendment  to  the  revenue  bill,  which  was  rejected, 
however,  and  was  certainly  not  in  accordance  with  the 
maxims  of  free  trade,  as  follows  :  That  "  all  persons  en- 
gaged in  traffic  in  ready-made  clothing,  not  the  manufac- 
turer of  this  State,  shall  pay  a  tax  of  one  per  cent,  on  every 
hundred  dollars  of  capital  invested  in  such  traffic."  On 
February  5tli  he  introduced  a  bill  to  authorize  county  and 
town  subscriptions  to  the  F^rench  Broad  and  Greenville 
Railroad. 

This  Legislature  contained  many  very  able  men.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  in  this  respect  its  superior  can  be  found 
in  the  history  of  the  State.     Among  its  members  who  were 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  41 

prominent  at  that  time  and  afterward  throno-hont  the  State 
were,  in  the  Senate  :  Thos.  S.  Ashe,  Joseph  B.  Cherry,  Asa 
Biggs,  Mason  L.  Wiggins,  Thos.  D.  McDowell,  Warren 
Winslow,  Curtis  H.  Brogden,  Gaston  H.  Wilder,  Wm. 
Eaton,  Jr.,  Jno.  W.  Cunningham,  W.  A.  Graham,  Chas.  S. 
Fisher,  Anderson  Mitchell,  Jno.  F.  Hoke,  Columbus  Mills 
and  David  Coleman.  In  the  House  with  Vance  were : 
A.  J.  Dargan,  Giles  Mebane,  P.  H.  Winston,  Jr.,  Jesse  G. 
Shepherd,  Samuel  P.  Hill,  Jas.  H.  Headen,  Samuel  F. 
Patterson,  Jas.  M.  Leach,  Jas.  S.  Amis,  D.  F.  Caldwell,  L.  Q. 
Sharp,  Samuel  F.  Phillips,  Josiali  Turner,  Lott  W. 
Humphrey,  Geo.  Badger  Singletary,  Walter  L.  Steele, 
Wm.  M.  Shipp,  Jno.  Gray  Bynum,  Thos.  Settle,  Jr.,  Wm.  A. 
Jenkins,  W.  T.  Dortch  and  Daniel  M.  Barringer.  Among 
the  Senators  enumerated  will  be  observed  the  name  of 
Vance's  second  opponent  for  Congress,  David  Coleman  ; 
and  in  the  House,  the  name  of  Thos.  Settle  then,  like 
Vance,  making  his  first  appearance  in  public  life,  and  who 
with  Vance,  in  1876,  made  that  notable  campaign  for 
Governor,  which  has  gone  into  history  as  the  battle  of  the 
giants. 

The  Journals  of  the  Legislature  do  not  contain  the 
speeches  of  the  members,  as  the  Congressional  Record  does, 
and  if  Vance  made  any  sprightly  and  witty  speeches  and 
remarks,  as  he  very  probably  did,  they  are  unfortunately 
lost. 

He  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Representative  in 
August,  1858,  to  fill  the  imexpired  term  of  Thos  L.  Cling- 
man  in  the  Thirty-Fifth  Congress,  and  also  for  the  full 
term  of  the  Thirty-Sixth  Congress,  and  took  his  seat  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-Fifth  Con- 
gress, on  December  7th,  1858.  He  was  among  the 
youngest  members  of  Congress,  if  not  the  very  youngest, 
being  only  twenty-eight  years  of  age  when  elected. 

This  was  a  comparatively  quiet  session,  not  much  legis- 
lation   being   considered    except  appropriation    bills,    and 


42  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Vance,  being  without  experience,  was  an  attentive  listener, 
rather  than  a  participator  in  debates.  On  January  26th, 
1859,  he  made  an  adverse  report  from  the  Committee  on 
Revolutionary  Claims,  and  on  February  3d,  there  being 
great  confusion  in  the  House,  many  members  on  their  feet, 
talking  and  asking  questions  at  the  same  time,  he  ad- 
dressed the  Speaker  and  said:  "I  want  to  know  whether 
this  is  debate  or  cross-questioning?" 

On  February  4th  he  offered  an  amendment  to  the  ap- 
propriation bill,  to  strike  out  "for  miscellaneous  items, 
$40,000,"  and  made  a  speech,  his  first  in  Congress,  in  favor 
of  his  motion,  as  follows : 

I  should  like  to  kuow  what  is  to  enlarge  the  borders  of  the  Thirty- 
Sixth  Congress  above  the  borders  of  the  present  Congress.  As  a 
member  of  the  present  Congress,  I  do  not  feel  inclined  to  yield  the 
point  that  my  successor,  whoever  he  may  be,  will  be  25  per  cent,  a 
greater  man  than  I  am  myself.  I  do  not  think  that  he  is  entitled  to 
|io,ooo  more  for  miscellaneous  items  than  I  am  myself,  and  I  am  in 
favor,  therefore,  of  striking  out  this  clause.  This  whole  bill  reminds 
me  very  much  of  the  bills  I  have  seen  of  fast  young  men  at  fashion- 
able hotels  :  For  two  days  board,  $5  ;  sundries,  $50.  [Laughter.]  It 
is  like  a  comet,  a  very  small  body  and  an  exceedingly  great  tail,  flam- 
ing over  half  the  heavens.  But  this  miscellaneous  item,  which  I 
propose  to  strike  out,  is  not  exactly  like  the  tail  of  a  comet,  because 
philosophers  say  that  with  a  good  telescope  you  can  see  through  the 
tail  of  a  comet.  What  glasses  will  enable  us  to  see  through  this  mis- 
cellaneous item  ?  [Laughter.]  I  should  like  to  know  what  it  is  for, 
what  it  is  intended  for,  and  why  we  are  to  increase  it  |io,ooo  beyond 
last  year  ? 

On  February  7th  Vance  addressed  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  House  on  Tariff,  Public  Lands  and  Pensions  of 
Soldiers  of  181 2,  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman  :  The  condition  of  the  country  is  a  rather  singu- 
lar one  at  this  time.  The  statesman  of  enlarged  views  might  now 
behold  many  important  events  in  the  indications  by  which  we  are 
surrounded,  could  he  but  read  them  aright.  The  late  fury  of  the 
political  heavens  having  spent  itself  in  the  fierce  and  bitter  contests 
which  raged  in  these  halls,  we  have  now  a  comparative  quiet.  But 
whether  the  winds  merely  pause  to  gather  more  wrath,  whether  it  is 
merely  a  truce   to  enable  the  combatants  to  recruit  and  1)ury  their 


UFK   OF   VANC?:.  43 

dead,  we  cannot  tell.     It  may  be  that  the  now  tranquil  skies  do  hut 

portend 

"  A  greater  wreck,  a  deeper  fall ; 

A  shock  to  one,  a  thunderbolt  to  all." 

But  let  us  hope  not.  I,  for  one,  am  determined  to  interpret  the 
omens  for  good.  I  think  they  are  full  of  hope  and  peace  and  promise 
for  the  Republic.  I  hope,  sir,  that  the  lull  is  not  a  treacherous  still- 
ness, heralding  the  deadly  simoon,  but  it  is  Halcyon  herselt  who 
comes  to  brood  upon  the  dark  and  restless  deep.  Eight  weeks  of  this 
session  have  gone  by  ;  grave  and  important  questions  have  been  dis- 
cussed and  passed  upon  ;  and  yet  harmony  and  good  feeling  have 
prevailed.  Zeal  there  has  been,  but  without  fanaticism  ;  warmth  and 
spirit,  but  without  bitterness  and  rancor.  Though  the  bush  has  been 
beaten  from  Maine  to  California,  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,  only  the 
gentleman  from  Maine  (Mr.  Washburn)  has  been  able  to  start  a  negro  ; 
and  though  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Giddings)  did  howl  upon 
the  trail,  the  chase  was  so  distant,  and  the  scent  lay  so  cold,  that  he 
soon  called  off,  and  the  Committee  was  not  frightened  from  its  pro- 
priety. 

It  behooves  the  Representatives  of  the  people  to  take  advantage 
of  this  hopeful  state  of  affairs,  and  to  turn  their  earnest  attention  to 
the  practical  every-day  matters  of  the  nation.  Too  long,  already,  has 
the  country  suffered  from  this  all-absorbing  excitement,  which  has  so 
much  hindered  practical  legislation.  Our  disordered  finances,  our 
depressed  trade,  our  empty  Treasury,  our  confused  foreign  policy,  our 
Secretary  calling,  like  the  daughter  of  the  horse-leech,  "  Give,  give  ;" 
all  show  this  melancholy  but  instructive  fact.  The  great  question  of 
a  tariff,  the  principal  source  of  our  national  revenue  ;  the  public 
lands  ;  and,  inseparable  from  these,  the  growing  expenditures  of  the 
government  greatly  need,  nay,  must  have,  our  attention.  It  is  time, 
sir,  we  were  considering  the  waj's  and  means  to  do  something  for  the 
people — that  vast  and  ever  striving  mass  whose  servants  and  Repre- 
sentatives we  are  ;  by  whose  intelligent  industry  and  unceasing  toil, 
by  whose  early  rising,  and  late  lying  down,  this  government  receives 
its  protection  and  its  bread,  its  glory  and  its  prosperity. 

When  we  reflect,  sir,  that  the  expense  of  administering  this  gov- 
ernment has  reached  a  point  far  exceeding  the  receipts  of  the  public 
Treasury,  we  must  look  around  for  some  means  of  making  both  ends 
meet.  I  presume  there  are  few  members  of  this  committee  who  desire 
to  see  the  government  embark  in  a  system  of  borrowing  money,  ex- 
cept in  extraordinary  cases  of  emergency,  and  thus  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  a  great  national  debt  like  that  of  Great  Britain,  which 
is  to  go  on  growing  and  increasing  until  it  gets  forever  beyond  the 
hopes  of  ultimate  payment.  The  soundest  policj-  of  national  finan- 
ciers has  been  to  borrow  money  only  in  case  of  war,  or  some  such 
urgent  necessity,  to  be  repaid  during  the  long  years  of  peace  and 
prosperity  which  follow  these  calamities.     In  times  of  general  tran- 


44  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

quility  it  has  always  been  considered  best  to  draw  upon  the  sources  of 
the  nation's  income  sufficiently  to  meet  our  current  expenses  without 
borrowing,  no  odds  how  much  the  amount  might  be.  We  are  not 
now  doing  this  ;  instead  of  living  like  a  frugal  housekeeper,  on  the 
interest  of  our  money,  we  are  devouring  the  principal.  During  the 
last  fiscal  year,  in  the  midst  of  profound  peace,  this  government  has 
issued  Treasury  notes  and  bonds  to  the  amount  of  135,000,000  beyond 
the  receipts  of  the  Treasury,  and  a  similar  issue  may  soon  be  called 
for  unless  the  deficiency  is  levied  on  some  source  of  the  revenue. 
The  tariff  levied  on  importations  is  the  principal  source  ;  the  next 
largest  is  the  public  lands.     Let  us  consider  the  former. 

Shall  it  be  raised  to  a  revenue  standard  or  not  ?  That  it  is  not 
now  up  to  this  point  is,  I  take  it  for  granted — the  opinion  of  many 
gentlemen  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding — sufficiently  obvious  from 
the  plain  fact  that  we  are  now  living  on  borrowed  money.  This  fact, 
for  practical  purposes,  is  worth  all  the  theories  that  gentlemen  can 
put  forth  in  regard  to  the  present  rates.  Sir,  I  am  not  philosophical 
on  this  subject ;  I  have  not  made  the  laws  which  govern  the  trade  and 
commerce  of  the  world  my  study  ;  I  have  not  hunted  up  the  statistics, 
nor  counted  with  care  the  enormous  columns  of  figures  which  contain 
our  commercial  transactions.  I  am  free  to  confess  it.  Nor  do  I 
believe  that  I  am  much  the  worse  for  this  reason.  But  crude  and 
unelaborated  as  my  opinions  may  be,  I  will  venture  to  lay  it  down  as 
an  undisputed  fact,  that,  as  we  are  in  debt  and  spending  more  than 
our  income,  and  as  our  income  is  derived  principally  from  the  tariff, 
we  have  to  do  one  of  three  things  ;  either  raise  that  income,  lower  our 
expenses,  or  walk  into  the  insolvent  court  and  file  our  schedule.  I  do 
not  think  there  is,  or  ever  was,  a  political  economist  on  earth  who 
could  deny  these  propositions.  It  is  a  question,  sir,  entirely  beyond 
financial  theories  and  abstractions. 

The  doctrine,  sir,  of  a  tariff  for  protection  has  been  pretty  gen- 
erally abandoned  in  the  section  from  which  I  come  ;  and  it  may  not  be 
amiss,  perhaps,  to  say  here  that  one  great  cause  of  that  doctrine  being 
abandoned  by  my  constituents,  who  once  held  it,  was  that  those  very 
men  whose  interests  and  institutions,  from  a  spirit  of  national  pride, 
we  were  upholding  and  protecting,  became  in  time  the  deadliest 
enemies  to  our  institutions  and  to  our  interests.  And  it  must  be  re- 
membered, too,  that  at  the  time  the  doctrine  of  a  protective  tariff 
prevailed  among  my  constituents  our  national  expenditures  scarcely 
exceeded  twenty  million  dollars  per  annum  ;  and  therefore  the  inci- 
dental protection  afforded  amounted  to  scarcely  anything,  and  made 
the  necessity  for  protection  obvious.  But  now  that  we  have  to  raise 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  million  dollars  per  annum,  principal!}^  by 
duties  on  importations,  the  incidental  protection  afforded  becomes  so 
large  as  to  render  direct  protection  both  uncalled  for  and  unjust. 

I  am,  therefore,  sir,  like  those  I  represent,  opposed  to  a  tariff  for 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  45 

protection,  both  for  that  reason,  and  also  because  it  is  to  the  interest 
of  my  section.  I  place  it  upon  the  f^roiind  of  self-interest 
frankly,  because  I  do  not  believe  in  the  validity  of  the  general  rules 
and  deductions  which  gentlemen  lay  down  so  fluently.  To  assert  that 
the  only  true  policy  of  a  nation  is  free  trade,  is  only  less  absurd  than 
to  assert  that  the  nation  should  extend  protection,  universally,  to  all 
the  manufactures  within  its  borders.  Trade  and  manufacture  are,  I 
take  it,  governed  and  affected  like  all  other  human  transactions  by  the 
thousand  and  one  accidents  and  adventitious  circumstances  to  which 
nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  are  subjected.  What  Adam  Smith  and 
later  British  politicians  may  say,  in  general  terms,  would  have  little 
more  application  to  our  condition,  than  would  the  maps  and  profiles 
of  Professor  Bache's  survey  applied  to  the  angles  and  indentations  of 
the  British  Coast.  Even  in  England,  covering  not  more  territory  than 
the  State  which  I  represent,  the  public  sentiment  was  never  a  unit  on 
the  tariff  question  ;  the  manufacturer  wanting  it  laid  heavily  upon 
articles  similar  to  those  in  which  he  dealt,  and  free  trade  as  to  bread- 
stuffs  ;  while  the  agriculturist  contended  for  precisely  the  reverse. 
What  French  economists  may  say  can  have  still  less  bearing  on  our 
affairs,  as  there  is  a  still  greater  dissimilarity  in  our  condition  and  in- 
stitutions. 

How,  then,  can  we  lay  down  a  rule  for  the  regulation  of  a  tariff 
which  shall  be  general  in  its  operation  for  the  best  for  a  country  like 
ours,  stretching,  as  it  does,  through  all  the  degrees  of  an  entire  zone  ; 
with  many  thousand  miles  of  coast ;  with  every  variety  of  soil,  climate 
and  production,  and  containing  within  its  borders  artisans,  manufac- 
turers and  laborers  of  every  form,  fashion  and  profession  under  the 
heavens  ?  There  is,  indeed,  one  general  rule,  which,  though  diverse 
in  its  operation,  is  yet  the  same  in  its  applicability  the  world  over — 
the  universal  law  of  self-interest.  And  despite  the  ingenious  theories 
of  politicians,  as  to  an  enlightened  public  opinion  having  settled  it  in 
this  way  or  that,  I  will  venture  to  say  there  is  not  a  civilized  nation  or 
community  now  on  earth  where  the  manufacturing  interest  is  domi- 
nant, that  does  not  seek  protection  for  its  work-shops  at  the  expense 
of  its  fields  and  vice  versa.  This,  sir,  is  another  reason  why  I  am  op- 
posed to  a  tariff  for  protection — that  it  wouldbuild  up  Northern  manu- 
factures at  the  expense  of  Southern  agriculturists.  We  need  no  pro- 
tection for  that  which  we  raise  for  market,  and  that  which  we  have  to 
buy  we  want  the  free  markets  of  the  world  to  choose  from. 

But,  be  this  as  it  may,  we  must  have  a  revenue  tariff  or  resort  to 
direct  taxation,  which  I  am  not  prepared  to  do.  In  putting  up  the 
rates,  then,  to  that  standard,  it  strikes  me  that  we  should  endeavor, 
not  to  protect  any  man  or  set  of  men,  but  to  protect  the  whole  body  of 
the  people  from  heavy  or  unequal  taxation — for  laying  a  tariff  is,  to 
some  extent,  laying  a  tax,  though  not  an  equal  tax,  as  many  of  the 
States  are  now  doing.     The  same  principle  ought  to  govern  us.     The 


46  LIKE  OF  VANCE. 

cardinal  doctrine  of  "  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number  "  ought 
to  be  our  guide  in  laying  these  burdens  upon  the  people.  The  same 
care  to  make  them  bear  lightly  as  possible  on  the  poor,  yet  without 
being  unjust  to  the  rich,  which  has  ever  been  the  idea  of  a  perfect  tax 
bill,  should  be  observed.  Whilst  I  do  not  hold  that  the  interests  of 
the  manufacturer  and  the  consumer  are  necessarily  and  altogether  an- 
tagonistic, yet  to  some  extent  they  certainly  are.  If,  therefore,  that 
class  of  our  citizens  which  produces  the  raw  material  of  commerce, 
and  consumes  the  manufactured  article,  is  the  larger  and  more 
extended  interest  of  the  country,  and  it  most  assuredly  is  ;  if  it  numeri- 
cally and  substantially  predominates  in  fact,  over  the  manufacturing 
interests,  then  the  genius  of  our  institutions  plainly  demands  that  the 
predominance  should  be  felt  in  the  legislation  of  the  country.  I  am 
not  for  sacrificing  a  smaller  interest  for  the  sake  of  a  greater,  in  so 
many  words,  but  I  believe  that  all  commercial  enterprise  should  be, 
in  a  large  degree,  self-sustaining,  and  I  cannot  regard  the  operations 
of  any  institutions  as  healthful  and  vigorous  which  flourishes  alone  by 
statutory  enactments. 

But  a  tariff  for  revenue  I  am  in  favor  of.  It  is  a  necessity  at  this 
time,  and  not  an  open  question.  If,  in  putting  up  the  rates  to  meet 
this  necessity,  any  protection  should  be  incidentally  afforded  to  the 
manufacturing  interest,  I  can  see  nothing  wrong  in  it.  Indeed,  if  the 
rates  are  fairly  imposed,  without  making  a  special  discrimination 
against  all  the  manufactories  of  the  nation,  I  cannot  see  how  it  is  to 
be  avoided,  if  it  were  ever  so  sinful.  We  certainly  should  not  be  so 
illiberal  as  to  refuse  to  them  that  which  cannot  hurt  us,  and  which 
may  help  them.  I  certainly  am  not  so  hostile  to  my  own  country,  or 
to  any  portion  of  it,  as  to  desire  to  transfer  what  little  protection  is 
incidentally  afforded  by  a  fairly  constituted  revenue  tariff  from  our 
own  manufactures  to  those  of  the  British  or  the  French,  when  my  own 
people  could  not  in  the  least  benefit  thereby. 

As  to  the  manner  of  levying  these  duties,  I  am  constrained  to  say 
that  I  agree  with  the  President.  I  believe  that  the  method  recom- 
mended by  him  in  his  late  message  is  the  best,  the  simplest,  and  in 
most  cases  the  fairest,  at  once  for  the  merchant,  the  consumer  and 
the  government.  A  specific  duty  on  any  given  article  is  a  steady 
source  of  revenue  ;  it  is  certain;  it  cannot  be  avoided  or  circumscribed; 
and  if  any  protection  arises  from  it,  it  is  a  home  protection  and  not  a 
foreign  one.  It  also  puts  to  rest  the  difficulty  as  to  home  and  foreign 
valuations,  which  always  arises  under  the  ad  valorem  system.  That 
some  protection  will  be  afforded,  is  inevitable,  if  the  duties  go  up.  Mr. 
Secretary  Cobb  says  himself  that  he  does  not  expect  to  see  a  tariff 
"  framed  on  rigid  revenue  principles,"  and  both  the  President  and  Mr. 
Cobb  seem  to  agree  that  the  duties  must  go  up,  or  we  must  borrow 
more  money,  which  is  not,  they  say,  desirable.  Indeed,  the  difference 
would  be  just  the  interest  on  the  sum  total  borrowed  in  favor  of  in- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  47 

creased  duties.  I  must  agree  with  both  in  this  respect  and  think  it 
better  to  bring  up  the  tariff  at  once  to  a  revenue  standard  and  be  done 
with  it,  than  to  keep  on  glorifying  free  trade  in  the  face  of  the  facts 
and  the  figures;  for,  although  we  are  told  to  wait  a  little  longer,  to 
wait  until  the  country  has  recovered  from  the  great  financial  crisis 
which  it  has  so  recently  undergone,  I  regard  delay  as  the  more  dan- 
gerous course.  How  much  indeed,  the  present  low  duties  have  had  to 
do  in  producing  this  very  crisis,  is  in  my  opinion,  a  question  open  to 
debate,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  My  own  notion  is,  that  California  gold, 
for  which  we  are  not  indebted  to  any  kind  of  tariff,  has  alone  kept  us 
from  calamities  compared  with  which  our  recent  troubles  were  small 
and  insignificant. 

But,  although  there  may  be  a  difference  honestly  entertained, 
among  gentlemen,  as  to  the  best  manner  of  regulating  the  tariff,  it 
seems  to  me,  sir,  that  there  can  be  but  one  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
public  lands — that  other  great  source  of  our  revenue.  I  am  one  of 
those  who  believe,  with  General  Jackson,  that  these  lands  ought  not 
to  be  made  a  source  of  revenue  at  all.  I  have  a  still  stronger  reason  for 
disbelieving  in  the  policy  of  keeping  them,  both  as  a  source  of  revenue 
and  as  a  corruption  fund  to  control  the  politics  of  this  country.  I 
have  heretofore  acted  upon  the  policy  of  distributing  these  lands 
among  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  or  their  proceeds  in  order  to 
enable  them  to  erect  public  works,  establish  free  schools,  and  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  general  improvement,  within  their  respective  borders. 
I  believe,  if  that  policy  had  been  adopted  at  the  time  it  was  first 
broached,  that  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  every  vState  in  the  Union 
would  have  been  materially  enhanced,  and  the  country  saved  from 
much  wrangling  and  bitterness,  from  many  monstrous  frauds  and 
gigantic  swindles. 

But  this  policy  was  withstood  by  the  Democratic  party,  which  at 
a  very  early  period,  took  ground  against  distribution,  and  declared 
thai  these  grounds  ought  to  be  held  as  a  source  of  revenue,  the  pro- 
ceeds poured  into  the  public  Treasury,  and  applied  to  defraying  the 
public  expenses,  and  would  thus  best  inure  to  the  use  and  benefit  of 
the  people.  That  party  prevailed  ;  and  although  under  that  disposi- 
tion of  the  public  lands,  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  which 
ceded  their  lands  to  the  government,  until  the  lands  thus  ceded  were 
all  sold,  continued,  in  reality,  to  pay  five  times  more  than  their  pro- 
portionate share  of  all  the  public  taxes  ;  yet  the  public  was  everywhere 
met  with  praises  of  the  justice  and  equality,  as  well  as  economy,  of 
the  system.  From  that  time  down  to  the  last  convention,  which 
assembled  in  Cincinnati  in  1856,  every  neighborhood,  county,  district, 
State  and  national  convention,  so  far  as  mj'  recollection  now  extends, 
pledged  the  party,  in  the  face  of  the  nation,  to  oppose  the  distribution 
of  these  public  lands,  whether  among  States,  corporations  or  individ- 
uals, and  saying  that  they  ought  to  be  applied  to  the  use  of  the  general 


48  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

government,  to  relieve  the  people  of  taxation,  and  for  no  other  pur- 
pose whatever. 

Nay,  sir,  the  favorite  term  of  expression  was,  that  "  the  proceeds 
of  these  lands  ought  to  be  sacredly  applied  "  to  these  purposes,  thus 
giving  a  kind  of  religious  sanction  to  the  sincerity  of  the  promise. 
When  the  advocates  of  distribution,  defeated  in  so  many  struggles, 
had  come  almost  to  despair  of  obtaining  their  object,  I,  for  one,  felt 
that  we  were  well  consoled  by  being  able  to  fall  back  upon  the  oft- 
repeated  promises.  I  was  cheered  by  the  thought,  that  if  we  could 
not  get  a  fair  and  equal  distribution,  we  knew  at  least  that  the  proceeds 
of  the  land  sale  were  well  disposed  of,  that  they  were  "sacredly  ap- 
plied" to  the  general  charge  and  expenditure.  But,  sir,  even  that 
consolation  is  taken  away  from  me,  and  the  actual  reality  stares  us  in 
the  face. 

During  the  last  session  of  Congress,  acting  in  obedience  to  a  resolu- 
tion, the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  transmitted  a  report  in  brief  to  the 
House  setting  forth  the  number  of  acres  disposed  of,  and  for  what 
purpose,  since  the  inauguration  of  the  present  system.  By  that  report 
it  appears  (I  quote  from  memory)  that  about  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  million  acres  have  been  sold  and  the  proceeds  applied,  (whether 
sacredly  or  not  we  cannot  now  tell)  to  the  public  expenses  ;  whilst, 
during  the  same  period,  there  have  been  "  sacredly  "  given  away  and 
squandered  about  two  hundred  and  ten  million  acres  !  And  this  ex- 
clusive of  military  grants  amounting  to  some  forty-four  millions  ! 
Some  millions  are  given  to  build  the  magnificent  railroad  system  of 
Illinois,  which  cannot  be  fairly  construed  to  come  under  the  head  of 
"  general  charge  and  expenditure  ;  "  some  millions  more  are  handed 
over  to  Minnesota,  to  Iowa,  to  Wisconsin  and  other  Northwestern 
States  for  railroads,  schools,  public  buildings  and  so  on.  What  con- 
struction other  gentlemen  may  put  on  this  I  am  unable  to  say  ;  but, 
in  my  opinion,  the  giving  away  of  the  common  property  to  free 
States,  to  support  those  public  burdens,  which  my  constituents  have 
to  pay  out  of  their  own  pockets,  is  neither  a  part  of  the  expenses  of  the 
general  government  proper,  nor  is  the  object  verj'  sacred.  To  avoid 
tediousness  I  shall  not  enumerate  the  various  States  which  shared  this 
public  spoil,  both  North  and  South,  or  recite  the  various  grants  so 
sacredly  donated  to  corporations  and  companies.  They  will  all  be 
found  grouped  over  the  sum  total  of  two  hundred  and  ten  millions  in 
the  report  referred  to. 

Is  there  any  prospect  of  the  evil  being  stopped  ?  Why,  sir,  I  was 
perfectly  astounded  to  learn  the  number  of  bills  now  before  the  House 
for  giving  away  lands.  I  sat  in  my  place  in  this  hall,  and  heard  the 
other  day  bills  enough  introduced  to  cover,  as  I  thought,  all  the  lands 
on  the  North  American  continent.  Many  of  them  seemed  to  me  to 
have  reference  to  the  prospective  annexation  of  all  the  nations, 
kindreds,  tongues  and  tribes,    from    the  open   Polar  Sea,   beyond   the 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  49 

regfions  of  eternal  ice,  to  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  There  seems  to  pre- 
vail, in  certain  sections,  a  notion  that  our  "  manifest  destiny  "  is  to 
conquer  territory,  and  then  give  it  away  in  lots  and  quantities  to  suit 
the  convenience  of  applicants.  Why,  sir,  no  Spanish  monarch  ever 
gave  away  realms  and  barbarian  empires,  which  were  not  yet  his  to 
give,  with  so  lavish  a  hand  as  we  display  in  granting  away  annually 
millions  upon  millions  of  acres  of  the  noblest  land  on  earth,  of  which 
it  is  promised  that  the  price  of  every  acre  shall  be  sacredlj'  applied  to 
a  far  different  object.  So  wild  has  the  infatuation  grown,  that,  not 
satisfied  with  the  splendid  operations  of  States,  corporations  and  in- 
dividuals, the  nation  has  actually  conceived  the  idea  of  swindling 
itself  out  of  two  hundred  million  acres  to  build  a  Pacific  railroad. 
What  an  age  we  live  in  !  But  the  brightest,  most  magnificent  idea  of 
all  yet  conceived  for  getting  rid  of  these  lands,  is  the  bill — which 
lately  passed  this  House — of  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, which  will  give  at  least  one  hundred  million  acres  to  whoever 
will  go  and  take  it.  No  odds  who  it  is  ;  the  invitation  is  general  to  all 
the  world.     "  Walk  up,  gentlemen,  and  help  yourselves." 

Now,  sir,  leaving  entirely  out  of  sight,  the  fact,  that  this  disposi- 
tion of  the  public  property  is  a  rank  and  gross  outrage  upon  the  rights 
of  the  old  States,  and  a  palpable  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the  deeds  of 
cession,  is  it  not  a  reckless  and  ruinous  waste  of  the  public  revenues  ? 
Is  it  not  a  strange  way  of  redeeming  a  promise  so  "  sacredly  "  made. 
What  wonder,  sir,  that  the  tariff  has  to  go  up,  when  this  great  and  un- 
failing source  of  public  wealth  is  thus  lavishly  thrown  away  ?  If  this 
fund  is  no  longer  to  go  into  the  public  Treasury  to  relieve  the  people 
from  the  burdens  of  a  high  tariff,  why,  then,  in  common  justice  and 
common  honesty,  let  us  all,  the  old  and  new  States,  take  share  and 
share  alike.  I  have  long  been  a  distributionist,  because  I  thought 
justice  and  equality  demanded  it  ;  butif  I  could  only  see  these  promises 
faithfully  carried  out,  if  I  can  only  see  this  vast  sum  honestly  applied 
to  defraj-ing  the  general  charge  and  expenditures  of  a  common  govern- 
ment, I  would  agree  to  ask  nothing  more.  I  call  on  gentlemen  to  stop 
this  wild  raid  after  the  public  lands.  I  will  gladly  stand  with  any 
party  to  effect  this  object. 

It  is  a  little  strange  that  every  State  in  the  Union  can  participate  in 
these  land  grants  save  and  except  alone  those  States  which  were  the 
original  proprietors.  The  ordinary  statute  of  distributions  is  entirely 
reversed,  and  the  furthest  of  kin,  instead  of  the  nearest,  seem  to  be 
best  entitled  to  this  estate.  There  is  great  anxiety  manifested  with 
the  admission  of  every  new  State,  to  put  it  on  an  equality  with  the  other 
States,  by  princely  donations  of  the  public  property  ;  but  it  never 
seems  to  occcur  to  gentlemen  that  there  is  no  equality  in  the  case  so 
long  as  one-half  of  the  States  get  nothing  at  all. 

What  do  you  call  equality,  and  how  do  you  bring  it  about  ?  Do 
you  call  it  equality  when  one  party  gets  all  and  the  other  gets  nothing? 


50  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

And  do  you  produce  this  equality  by  loading  one  with  favors  and 
stripping  the  other  bare  ?  Nay,  sir,  worse  still  is  done.  The  elder 
sisters  of  this  great  family  of  States  bring  their  advancements  into 
hotch-pot,  and  the  law  not  only  gives  the  younger  sisters  the  principal 
estate,  but  the  advancements  also,  leaving  the  elder  sisters  without 
inheritance  in  the  common  propert}'.  Truly,  "from  him  that  hath 
not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath."  And  although  the 
doctrine  has  been  strenuously  maintained  that  it  was  unconstitutional 
for  the  general  government  to  erect  improvements  not  of  a  national 
character  in  the  respective  States,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  shows 
us  that  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty-nine  and  one-half  miles 
of  railroad  have  been  built,  or  provided  for,  by  the  Thirty-Fourth 
Congress  alone.  How  many  schools  have  been  established,  and 
how  many  public  buildings  have  been  erected  by  Congress 
in  this  way,  the  report  does  not  show.  It  would  take  up  all  my 
allotted  time  to  show  one-half  of  the  donations  to  the  new  States,  and 
for  what  purposes  ;  therefore  I  will  forbear.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
scarcely  a  single  grant  is  not  in  direct  contravention  of  this  doctrine, 
whether  right  or  wrong.  And  before  I  close  this  subject,  I  may  be 
permitted  to  remark  upon  the  strangeness  of  the  fact,  that  no  land 
bill  has  passed  this  Congress,  and  become  a  law,  which  made  provision 
for  an  equal  division  among  all  the  States.  The  faintest  shadow  of 
justice  and  equality  in  a  land  bill  is  sufficient  to  "dam  it  to  everlasting 
fame."  Bennett's  land  bill  could  not  get  through,  neither  could  the 
agricultural  college  bill  of  the  gentleman  from  Vermont,  (Mr.  Morrill); 
and  though  the  lunatic  asylum  bill  got  through  Congress,  it  met  its 
quietus  on  the  ground  of  unconstitutionality,  at  the  hands  of  a  Presi- 
dent who  signed  bills  giving  away  lands  enough  to  build  four  thousand 
six  hundred  and  forty-nine  miles  of  railroad  and  many  million  acres 
besides  for  works  of  a  similar  nature  ! 

But,  sir,  we  are  continually  told  that  it  becomes  no  man  to  talk 
about  a  waste  of  the  public  revenues,  or  to  recommend  economy  who 
voted  for  the  old  soldiers'  bill  ;  that  that  was  a  measure  of  such  reckless 
and  dangerous  extravagance,  as  to  completel}'  shut  the  mouths  of  all 
who  are  anxious  to  promote  a  reform  in  our  alarming  expenditures. 
I  am  glad  to  hear  that  word  economy  coming  from  such  gentlemen.  I 
am  delighted  to  know,  sir,  that  Saul  is  once  more  among  the  prophets, 
though  he  come  even  "in  such  questionable  shape"  as  a  reformer  ; 
for  if  there  ever  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  government,  when 
retrenchment  and  reform  were  needed,  now  is  that  time.  Put  in  the 
knife,  sir,  by  all  means.  Let  it  be  sharp  and  keen,  and  I  will  help  and 
hold  and  cry,  "Lay  on,  McDuff !  "  and  well  done,  while  the  bright 
blade  flashes  right  and  left,  reddening  as  it  goes,  among  the  foul  ulcers 
of  the  body  politic  till  the  last  one  is  removed. 

But  I  do  not  wish  to  begin  to  economize  in  the  wrong  place.  I  do 
not  wish,  sir,  to  let  the  first  stroke  fall  on  the  best,  the  noblest,  the 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  51 

most  useful  part  of  the  whole  nation,  the  gallant  soldiers  of  the  War 
of  1S12.  What  would  be  thought,  sir,  of  the  man  who  would  begin  to 
reform  his  household  expenses,  by  giving  a  half  feed  to  his  horse,  his 
ox,  and  his  plowman  ?  Instead  of  saving  money,  sir,  he  would  dry 
wp  the  source  of  his  wealth  entirely  ;  for  in  a  short  time  his  plowman 
and  his  horse  would  be  as  weak  as  a  politician's  promises,  as  feeble  as 
a  modern  platform.  Such  a  man  would  hardly  be  termed  a  bad 
economist ;  he  would  be  called  a  fool  and  would  deserve  the  appella- 
tion. He  should  commence  by  cutting  off  all  the  superfluous  parts  of 
his  establishment  first,  so  there  might  be  no  diminution  in  the  com- 
forts of  those  who  labored.  So,  sir,  we  should  begin  in  the  national 
household,  to  lop  off  the  superfluous  excrescences  that  uselessly  feed 
on  the  Treasury.  We  might  profitably  decapitate  some  thousands  of 
that  class  of  hungry  hangers-on,  who  swarm  in  the  land  with  the 
numbers  and  rapacity  of  the  Egyptian  locust,  "  devouring  every  green 
thing."  I  contend,  sir,  that  the  citizen  soldier  is  at  once  the  pride 
and  glory,  the  staj-  and  the  surety  of  the  nation  ;  and  no  government 
is  wise  which  refuses  to  contribute,  in  this  way,  to  the  fostering  of 
that  warlike  spirit  in  its  militia. 

The  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Nichols)  told  us  the  other  day  that 
his  spirit  originated  solely  in  patriotism  and  devotion  to  our  liberties, 
and  that  no  greater  insult  could  be  offered  to  those  gallant  men  than 
to  put  their  services  in  the  War  of  1812  on  a  footing  of  dollars  and 
cents.  "  Patriotism,"  said  he,  "  is  its  own  reward."  What  a  pity  it 
is  that  he  is  not  as  prompt  to  defend  these  men  from  real  want  as  from 
imaginary  insult !  I  would  not  do  any  soldier  of  that  war  the  injustice 
to  suppose  for  a  moment  that  thought  of  the  pay  influenced  him  in  the 
slightest.  His  country  was  in  danger  ;  that  was  enough  for  him.  The 
bugle  blast  told  him  that  the  invader's  foot  was  upon  the  soil,  and  he 
went  to  the  rescue.  But  this  is  all  the  greater  reason  why  they  deserve 
well  at  our  hands.  As  they  were  prompt  and  brave  to  defend  us,  so 
should  we  be  prompt  and  liberal  to  repay  them.  I  do  not  believe  they 
are  sufficiently  repaid  by  the  honor  and  glory  they  have  acquired. 
Thousands  of  these  men  are  now  in  the  deepest  poverty,  and  have  the 
hardest  work  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  doors  of  their  homes,  where 
dwell  their  wives  and  little  ones.  Can  one  of  them  walk  into  the 
market  and  buy  a  rump  of  beef  or  a  leg  of  mutton  with  glory  ?  What 
merchant  advertises  that  he  will  take  either  glory,  honor,  or  renown, 
in  exchange  for  beef,  pork,  and  cabbage  ?  I  doubt,  sir,  if  either  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio  or  m3'self  would  agree  to  represent  our  constitu- 
ents in  this  hall,  glorious  as  it  is,  without — to  speak  in  Kansas 
technology — "an  enabling  statute."  You  may  talk  of  glory  as  much 
as  you  like,  but  these  old  soldiers  want  some  more  substantial  testi- 
monial of  the  country's  gratitude. 

That  argument,  sir,  reminds  me  of  the  custom,  in  Catholic  coun- 
tries, of  having  the  priest  to  pass   over   the   fields   in    the    spring  and 


52  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

bless  the  expected  crop.  On  one  such  occasion,  the  priest  being  some- 
thing of  an  agriculturist,  paused  at  one  field  which  was  very  poor  and 
sterile.  "Here,  my  friends,"  said  he,  "  blessings  will  do  no  good  ; 
this  field  must  have  manure."  The  old  soldiers,  sir,  value  the  glory 
they  have  acquired,  no  doubt  ;  but  they  must  have  something  that 
will  do  more  good  than  empty  fame. 

Sir,  I  hope  gentlemen  will  not  be  guilty  of  the  sin  of  so  often 
taking  the  name  of  economy  in  vain,  for  the  people  will  not  hold 
them  guiltless.  I  protest,  sir,  against  making  this  word  cover  all  the 
sins  of  the  age.  There  are  but  few  of  these  soldiers  alive,  and  they 
are  necessarily  far  advanced  in  years.  It  is  but  now  and  then  that 
you  m.eet  with  one  of  them  ;  and  if  we  do  our  duty  in  cutting  down 
our  ruinous  expenditures  at  the  present  session,  the  amount  required 
to  pay  them  will  scarcely  be  felt.  The  bill  provides  no  back  pay,  and 
only  gives  a  small  sum  for  life,  graduated  according  to  the  length  of 
the  soldier's  services.  In  my  opinion  the  vast  amount  so  unwisely 
spent  in  the  bloodless  Mormon  war,  would  be  sufl&cient  for  this  bill. 
I  do  earnestly  hope  that  the  Senate  may  consider  it  favorably,  and 
that  it  may  become  a  law. 

On  February  15th,  1859,  Vance  asked  tinanimons  consent 
to  introduce  a  bill  to  extend  the  bounty  lands  act  of 
November  3d,  1855,  to  wagon  masters  and  teamsters.  Ob- 
jected to. 

February  i6th  Mr.  Cavanaugh  wanted  his  colleague  ex- 
cused. Mr.  Washburn:  "What  is  the  matter?"  The 
Speaker:  "He  is  presumed  to  be  indisposed."  Vance: 
"I  would  like  to  know  if  such  presumption  can  be  rebut- 
ted?"     [Laughter.]      Motion  not  agreed  to. 

The  Thirty-Sixth  Congress  to  which  Vance  was  elected  in 
1858,  assembled  in  December,  1859.  It  was  a  memorable 
Congress,  the  last  one  before  the  great  secession  took  place. 
This  Congress  was  memorable  on  many  accounts,  but  first 
and  foremost  for  the  long  and  bitter  contest  over  the  Speak- 
ership of  the  House.  The  members  of  the  House  consisted 
of  109  Republicans,  loi  Democrats,  26  Americans  and  one 
Whig.  Among  them  were  many  men  distinguished  then 
and  since  and  whose  names  are  quite  familiar  now,  viz: 
Justin  S.  Morrill,  of  Vermont;  Chas.  Francis  Adams  and 
Columbus  Delano,  Masssachusetts  ;  Daniel  E.  Sickles,  F.  E. 
Spinner,  Roscoe  Conklin,  New  York ;  Thaddeus  Stevens, 


LIFE   OF  VANCE. 


53 


Galusha  A.  Grow,  Edward  McPherson  and  John  Co\ode, 
Pennsylvania;  Henry  Winters  Davis,  Maryland  ;  Roger  A. 
Pryor,  Thos.  S.  Bocock  and  A.  R.  Boteler,  Virginia;  Law- 
rence M.  Keitt,  M.  h.  Bonhani  and  W.  W.  Boyce,  South 
Carolina;  Joshua  Hill,  Georgia;  Jas.  L.  Pugh,  J.  M.  L. 
Currie,  Alabama;  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  Wm.  Barksdale,  O.  R. 
Singleton,  Mississippi;  Geo.  H.  Pendleton,  C.  L.  Valland- 
ingham,  Thos.  Corwin,  S.  S.  Cox,  John  Sherman,  Ohio ; 
Thos.  A.  R.  Nelson,  Horace  Maynard,  Emerson  Ethridge, 
Tennessee;  W.  S.  Holman,  W.  H  English,  Schuyler  Col- 
fax, Indiana;  Jno.  A.  Logan,  E.  B.  Washburn,  Illinois; 
John  H.  Reagan,  Texas  ;  Wm.  Windom,  Minnesota.  The 
name  of  the  delegate  from  Nebraska  was  "Experience 
Eastabrook." 

In  the  Senate  were  Hannibal  Hamlin,  Maine ;  John  P. 
Hale,  New  Hampshire;  Chas.  Sumner,  Henry  Wilson, 
Massachusetts ;  W.  H.  Seward,  Preston  King,  New  York ; 
Simon  Cameron,  Pennsylvania ;  Jas.  A.  Bayard,  Delaware ; 
Jas.  M,  Mason,  R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  Virginia ;  Robert  Toombs, 
Georgia,  Jefferson  Davis,  Mississippi;  John  Slidell,  J.  P. 
Benjamin,  Louisiana ;  John  J.  Crittenden,  Kentucky ;  An- 
drew Johnson,  A.  O.  P.  Nicholson,  Tennessee  ;  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  Illinois  ;  Trusten  Polk,  Missouri ;  Zach  Chandler, 
Michigan ;  Joseph  Lane,  Oregon.  The  Senators  from  North 
Carolina  were  Thos.  Bragg  and  Thos.  L.  Clingman,  and 
the  delegation  in  the  House  were  W.  N.  H.  Smith,  First 
district;  Thos.  Ruffin,  Second;  Warren  Winslow,  Third; 
L.  O'B.  Branch,  Fourth  ;  Jno.  A.  Gilmer,  Fifth;  James  M. 
Leach,  Sixth ;  Burton  Craig,  Seventh,  and  Z.  B.  Vance, 
Eighth.  Of  these.  Smith,  Gilmer,  Leach  and  Vance  were 
classed  as  Americans,  the  others  as  Democrats. 

Party  lines  seem  not  to  have  been  very  closely  drawn  as 
to  the  speakership,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  there  were 
any  caucus  nominees.  John  Sherman  was  in  the  lead  on 
the  Republican  side,  but  received  only  66  votes  out  of  a 
total    of    109    Republicans.      Bocock    got    nearly   all    the 


54  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Democrats  on  the  first  ballot,  while  the  Americans  scattered 
widely.  Vance  voted  for  Boteler,  of  Virginia,  who  received 
14  votes.  This  was  the  first  ballot  and  the  beginning  of  a 
struggle  which  lasted  two  months.  It  is  difficult  at  this 
distance  of  time  to  understand,  even  from  j^erusing  the 
record  of  proceedings,  the  motives  which  guided  the  mem- 
bers in  casting  their  votes.  And  it  is  doubtful  whether 
they  themselves  clearly  apprehended  either  the  true  situa- 
tion or  their  own  motives  and  desires.  The  Democrats 
seem  to  have  been  most  nearly  solid  but  they  were  in  a 
minority,  wdiile  the  Republicans  w^ere  not  harmonious 
among  themselves,  and  the  Americans,  though  holding  the 
balance  of  power,  were  widely  at  variance  with  each  other 
as  to  what  course  to  pursue.  Consequently  the  wildest 
shooting,  the  most  inconsistent  and  erratic  voting  was  wit- 
nessed day  after  day.  Candidates  were  being  constantly 
put  up  and  taken  down  by  all  parties.  Two  or  three  ballots 
were  enough  to  test  the  strength  of  any  candidate,  and  this 
strength  seemed  to  depend  largely  upon  individual  antece- 
dents, pledges  and  character.  Lawrence  M.  Keitt,  an 
eloquent  and  fiery  young  member  from  South  Carolina, 
said  in  a  speech  on  the  subject  that  W.  N.  H.  Smith,  of 
North  Carolina,  was  elected  on  a  certain  ballot,  but  before 
the  result  could  be  announced,  enough  votes  were  changed 
to  defeat  him.  The  discussions  were  for  the  most  part 
highly  sectional  and  inflammatory,  though  the  language 
and  bearing  of  the  members  towards  each  other  were  in  the 
main  courteous  and  respectful,  otherwise  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  preserve  order  and  decorum  without  a 
presiding  officer  to  enforce  parliamentary  law  or  decide 
questions  of  privilege  and  order.  As  no  business  could  be 
transacted  till  a  speaker  was  elected,  the  intervals  between 
the  ballotings  were  taken  up  with  discussions  of  partizan 
and  sectional  questions.  (3n  the  very  first  day  of  the  ses- 
sion, "  The  Invasion  of  Harper's  Ferry  "  and  "  Helpers 
Impending  Crisis,"  Vv'ere  lively  topics  of  discussion.     Amid 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  55 

all  this  commotion  and  turmoil  Vance  was  neither  silent 
nor  indifferent.  Though  among-  the  young  and  inex- 
perienced he  was  ever  on  the  alert  and  his  voice  was 
frequently  heard,  sometimes  in  seriousness,  but  more  fre- 
quently, perhaps,  in  jest,  whereby  to  tone  down  excitement, 
cool  heated  blood,  take  the  poison  from  hostile  arrows  and 
convert  bursts  of  anger  into  shouts  of  laughter.  But  his 
votes  were  as  wild  and  scattering  as  the  others.  He  did 
not  want  to  vote  for  a  Democrat,  (another  name  as  he  then 
thought  for  secessionist)  and  he  could  not  vote  for  a  Re- 
publican, then  everywhere  in  the  South  called  Black  Re- 
publican.    The  dead-lock  finally  came  to  an  end. 

On  the  forty-fourth  ballot,  on  February  ist,  Wm.  Pen- 
nington, a  Republican  of  New  Jersey,  an  inexperienced  and 
unknown  man,  was  elected.  On  that  ballot  Vance  voted 
for  W.  N.  H.  Smith,  though  Jno.  A.  Gilmer,  of  the  same 
party  and  same  State,  received  i6  votes. 

Vance's   first   speech    in    this    Congress    was    delivered 

December  29th,  1859,  and  was  as  follows: 

I  hope  the  House  will  indulge  me  a  single  remark,  especially  in 
consideration  of  the  fact  that  I  have  not  trespassed  upon  its  attention 
from  the  commencement  of  the  session  until  this  time.  I  hope  I  have 
shown  by  the  votes  that  I  have  recorded  here  in  this  contest  that  I  am 
willing  to  assist  in  the  election  of  any  man  upon  a  conservative  and 
national  basis,  which  phrase  I  am  certain  the  House  has  never  heard 
before.  [Great  laughter.]  I  have  voted  for  a  Lecompton  Democrat. 
I  have  voted  for  those  who  did  not  approve  of  the  Lecompton  bill.  I 
have  voted  for  an  administration  Democrat.  I  have  voted  for  an  anti- 
administration  Democrat.  And  if  there  is  an}'  other  member  of  that 
great,  proHfic  Democratic  family  that  I  have  neglected,  I  hope  they 
will  trot  him  out  and  give  me  an  opportunity  to  vote  for  him. 
[Laughter.]  And  now,  sir,  I  am  still  willing  to  exhibit  the  same 
national  conservative  spirit  by  voting  for  Mr.  Scott,  of  California.  I 
vote  for  him  knowing  that  he  will  not  be  elected  on  this  ballot  and 
that  my  vote  will  do  him  no  good.  But  yesterday,  when  my  gallant 
friend  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Maynard)  was  nominated,  forty-five  Demo- 
crats, members  of  this  House,  laid  down  their  party  prejudice  and 
voted  for  him,  and  it  shall  not  be  said  to-day,  when  Mr.  Scott,  a  Demo- 
crat, a  national  conservative  one,  I  hope,  was  nominated,  there  was 
not  found  one  Whig  to  return  the  compliment.  I  vote  for  Charles  L. 
Scott.     [Applause  in  the  galleries.] 


56  LIFE    OF   VANCH. 

His  second  and  only  other  speech  of  any  length  in  that 
Congress  was  delivered  on  January  31st,  i860,  and  was  as 
follows : 

As  a  general  thing  I  do  not  believe  in  the  propriety  of  a  Representa- 
tive making  a  personal  explanation  for  every  thing  he  has  done  here 
or  every  vote  he  thinks  proper  to  give.  This  House  is  not  the  tribunal 
to  which  I  have  to  answer  for  my  conduct.  My  constituents  will 
require  that  of  me,  and  I  will  answer  to  them  as  best  I  can.  I  profess 
to  have  a  fee  simple  in  my  own  understanding,  though  my  under- 
standing, like  the  fee,  may  be  simple  also.  But  I  propose  upon  this 
occasion  very  briefly — for  brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit  (I  should  like  at 
least  to  possess  the  sole  wit  of  brevity) — to  make  the  vote  I  am  now 
going  to  give  the  occasion  rather  than  the  subject  of  a  brief  explana- 
tion. I  do  not  insist  on  every  Democrat  in  this  House  voting  for  the 
gentleman  from  Illinois  as  a  condition  precedent  before  I  can  vote  for 
him  myself.  The  'gentleman  from  Illinois  (Mr.  McClernard),  when 
my  honorable  colleague,  Mr.  Smith  was  put  in  nomination,  differing 
from  him  as  much  as  I  differ  from  the  gentleman  from  Illinois,  came 
forward  with  a  magnanimity,  a  generosity  and  with  a  patriotism  I 
have  rarely  seen  equalled,  without  making  any  inquiries  or  asking 
questions,  and  cast  his  vote  for  my  colleague.  Now,  sir,  shall  not  I 
reciprocate  the  honor  conferred  on  my  State,  be  magnanimous  enough 
to  do  the  same  thing  ?  Some  of  my  South  American  friends  have  said 
that  in  consequence  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  in  relation  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Territories  that  the  Northwestern  Democrats  are 
supposed  to  entertain,  they  cannot  make  such  a  sacrifice  of  principle 
as  to  come  to  this  gentleman's  support.  Sir,  when  we  ourselves  have 
seen  these  Northwestern  Democrats  come  up  to  the  support  of  a  South- 
ern opposition  man,  though  differing  widely  from  themselves,  to  organ- 
ize the  House,  and  have  seen,  on  the  other  hand,  a  Southern  slaveholder 
a  Representative  from  a  Southern  city  (Mr.  Davis,  of  Maryland),  delib- 
erately supporting  the  candidate  of  the  Black  Republican  party,  I 
confess  I  feel  it  would  be  ill-requiting  their  conservatism  to  deny 
them  our  support.  [Great  applause  in  the  galleries.]  I  do  not  con- 
sider myself  as  endorsing  anything  by  this  vote  save  and  except  alone 
my  own  opposition  to  Black  Republicanism.  I  consider  it  an  evidence 
of  the  degeneracy  of  the  times  that  gentlemen  here  cannot  sacrifice  as 
small  and  insignificant  a  thing  as  their  party  prejudices  for  the  com- 
mon good,  when  men  may  be  sometimes  called  upon  as  our  fathers 
were  in  times  past,  to  sacrifice  their  lives,  their  fortunes  and  their 
hea:rt's  blood  to  the  cause  of  their  country.  And  I  to-day  feel  ashamed 
as  did  the  people  of  old,  who  refused  to  receive  a  present  of  the  oxen 
with  which  to  make  a  sacrifice  saying  that  he  would  not  offer  a  sacri- 
fice to  God  of  that  which  cost  him  nothing.  By  this,  sir,  I  mean  to 
cast  no  sort  of  imputation  upon  the  patriotism  of  those  of  my  political 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  57 

friends  who  see  proper  to  differ  with  me  or  to  impugn  the  validity  of 
their  reasons  for  not  voting  as  I  do.  I  only  mean  to  say  that  members 
of  the  Democracy  refusing  to  vote  for  their  own  man  forms  no  suffi- 
cient reason  why  I  should  not  meet  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  on  the 
high  conservative  grounds  which  he  has  occupied  throughout  this 
contest  and  return  the  compliment  which  he  has  paid  my  colleague 
and  through  him  my  State.  Therefore,  sir,  I  have  to  say  without 
hesitation,  equivocation,  mental  reservation  or  secret  evasion  of  mind 
whatever,  straight  along  and  throughout  I  vote  for  John  A.  Mc- 
Clernard,  of  Illinois. 

Although  Vance  made  no  elaborate  speeches  during  this 
Congress  and  although  he  was  young  and  inexperienced  he 
was  one  of  the  most  attentive,  alert,  lively  and  industrious 
members  of  that  body,  as  the  official  records  abundantly 
show.  He  was  placed  on  the  standing  committee  on  revo- 
lutionary claims  with  S.  S.  Cox,  W.  S.  Holman  and  others, 
but  was  assigned  to  no  other  standing  committee. 

On  February  i6th,  i860,  he  introduced  a  bill  to  execute 
the  treaties  of  181 7  and  1819  with  the  Cherokee  Indians 
which  was  read  and  appropriately  referred,  and  on  the  same 
day  explained  as  to  the  transfer  of  pairs  of  Leach  and  Moss 
on  the  vote  for  Public  Printer.  On  March  9th,  from  the 
committee  on  revolutionary  claims  he  reported  a  bill  for 
the  relief  of  the  heirs  of  Col.  Benjamin  Wilson,  which  was 
read  and  referred  to  the  private  calendar  ;  also  a  bill  for  the 
relief  of  the  heirs  of  Rev.  Jas.  Craig,  which  was  similarly 
referred,  and  on  the  same  day  he  twice  offered  the  excuses 
of  his  colleague  Leach  for  absence  at  roll  call.  On  March 
1 2th,  he  offered  the  following  resolution  which  by  unani- 
mous consent  was  considered  and  agreed  to:  "Resolved, 
That  the  committee  on  public  lands  be  instructed  to  enquire 
into  the  propriety  of  providing  for  the  duplication,  under 
proper  restrictions  against  fraud,  of  lost  land  warrants  issued 
to  soldiers  and  of  extending  the  term  of  the  same,  and  that 
they  have  leave  to  report  by  bill  or  otherwise."  April  6th, 
Vance,  from  the  committee  on  Revolutionary  claims,  re- 
ported a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  heirs  of  James  Bell,  of 
Canada,  which  was  read  and  appropriately  referred,  and  on 


58  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

April  7th  he  had  a  colloquy  with  Burnett,  Crawford  and 
others  as  to  bills  reported  in  favor  of  Revolutionary  claims. 
On  April  aotli  he  excused  his  colleague  Ruffin  who  was 
absent  at  roll  call.  On  May  4th  Vance  reported  a  bill  for 
the  relief  of  Robert  Stricklin,  another  for  the  relief  of 
the  heirs  of  Thos.  Hagard,  and  another  for  the  relief  of  the 
heirs  of  Lieut.  George  Walton  ;  also  a  bill  in  favor  of  An- 
drew Reese,  and  another  for  the  relief  of  Richard  Jones  and 
others,  all  which  w^ere  read  and  referred  to  the  committee 
of  the  whole  House.  On  May  9th  there  was  a  call  of  the 
roll.  Mr.  Delano  was  in  the  restaurant  when  his  name 
was  called,  but  returned  to  the  hall  before  the  roll  call  was 
ended  and  asked  permission  to  vote.  The  Speaker  inquired 
if  the  orentleman  was  within  the  bar  of  the  House  when  his 
name  was  called.  He  answered  he  was  within  the  bar  of 
the  restaurant.  Mr.  Cochrane  said  if  he  would  explain 
fully  what  he  was  doing  in  the  restaurant,  perhaps  he 
might  get  leave  to  vote.  Mr.  Delano  said  :  •'!  was  engaged 
in  the  great  work  of  self-protection."  Vance  interposed, 
"I  thought  perhaps  the  gentleman  might  have  been  en- 
gaged in  the  matter  of  internal  improvement.^^  {Great 
Laughter.] 

May  9th,  a  tariff  bill  was  under  discussion,  Vance  said  : 
"  I  move  to  strike  out  in  line  79  the  word  pumpkins.  I 
make  the  motion  in  deference  to  the  gentleman  who  has 
taken  the  terrapins  of  my  State  under  his  charge  and  for 
his  benefit,  and  that  of  his  constituents.  I  have  no  doubt 
a  high  duty  on  pumpkins  would  operate  favorably." 
[Laughter.] 

May  1 8th  he  reported  a  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  which  was  read  and 
referred  to  the  whole  House.  May  29th  the  appropriation 
bill  was  under  consideration.  A  good  deal  of  complaint 
had  been  made  about  the  high  prices  paid  for  labor  and 
material  in  repairs  upon  the  capitol,  when  Vance  offered 
the  following  amendment :     "  Provided,  that  there  shall  not 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  59 

be  expended  for  labor  and  material  upon  the  capitol  exten-  • 

sion  more  than  twice  as  much  as  the  same  could  be  ob- 
tained for  by  private  individuals."  [Laughter.]  On  May 
23d  there  was  a  call  of  the  House.  Mr.  Etheridge  asked 
leave  to  retire  for  thirty  minutes.  The  cat  calls  and  guying 
implied  that  he  was  suspected  of  wanting  to  get  a  drink. 
A  motion  being  made  to  excuse  him  for  half  an  hour, 
Vance  said  :  "  I  move  to  amend  by  asking  the  gentleman 
to  take  me  along  with  him,"  [Laughter.]  A  Japanese 
minister  visited  the  capitol,  and  Mr.  Winslow,  of  North 
Carolina,  was  on  the  committee  of  escort.  During  his  ab- 
sence there  was  a  roll  call,  and  Vance  created  great  merri- 
ment by  announcing  that  his  "  colleague,  Mr.  Winslow,  was 
paired  with  the  gentleman  from  Yeddo."  June  2d  he  made 
an  adverse  report  on  a  bill  to  which  Mr.  Barr  was  opposed. 
The  latter,  perhaps,  not  noticing  that  the  report  was  ad- 
verse, entered  an  objection.  "  What,"  said  Vance,  "  object 
to  my  killing  the  bill  for  you?"  June  6th  there  was  a 
call  of  the  House,  and  an  all-night  session.  Vance  was  sum- 
moned from  his  home  about  2  o'clock  in  the  morning 
and  required  to  give  his  excuse  to  the  House.  He  said  : 
"  Well,  sir,  I  am  rather  afraid  to  undertake  to  render  an 
excuse,  as  it  seems  that  any  excuse  having  a  reason  in  it  is 
not  in  order  in  this  House,  [laughter]  and  I  would  not 
like  to  give  an  excuse  that  has  no  reason  ;  therefore,  I  will 
say  the  demands  of  food  and  sleep  took  me  home.  I  under- 
stood the  House  was  in  committee  of  the  whole  on  the' 
state  of  the  Union,  and  that  its  members  were  engaged  in 
discussions  intended  for  my  district.  I  represent  Buncombe. 
[Laughter.]  I  was  disagreeably  disturbed  at  a  few  minutes 
past  2  o'clock  this  morning,  while  I  was  wrapped  in  the 
arms  of  Morpheus  and  dreaming  pleasant  dreams  which  I 
need  not  detain  this  House  to  relate."  Shortly  afterwards, 
seeing  that  the  Speaker  was  absent  and  was  represented  by 
a  substitute  in  the  chair,  he  inquired  :  "  Where  is  the 
Speaker  ?     Is  he  enjoying  himself  at  home  while  we  suffer 


6o  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

here  ?"  A  motion  was  made  to  send  a  messenger  to  inform 
the  Speaker  that  his  presence  was  required  in  the  House. 
Vance  said  send  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  but  objection  being 
made  that  more  courtesy  was  due  the  Speaker,  Vance  said  : 
"  I  do  not  wish  to  be  wanting  in  courtesy,  but  there  was 
some  coiirtesy  due  my  sknnbers,  so  rudely  broken  at  half 
past  2  o'clock  this  morning."  When  the  Speaker  appeared, 
a  while  before  day,  Vance  arose  and  said  :  I  give  the 
Speaker  the  top  of  the  morning  and  hope  he  had  a  good 
night's  rest."  The  member  from  Oregon  (his  name  was 
Stout)  being  absent,  a  fellow-member  said  there  was  some 
doubt  about  the  health  of  the  member  from  Oregon,  and 
he  should  be  allowed  to  explain.  Vance  said  :  "  I  am 
happy  to  inform  the  gentleman  from  Maryland  that  the 
member  from  Oregon  is  quite  stout."  [Laughter.]  On  a 
certain  vote  Vance  said  he  was  paired  with  Mr.  Stout,  who 
had  gone  to  Baltimore  (to  the  Democratic  convention)  to 
witness  the  riot.      [Laughter.] 

January  12th,  1861,  (second  session)  he  made  a  report 
from  the  committee  on  Revolutionary  claims  in  favor  of 
Mary  Clearwater,  of  New  York,  and  on  February  6th 
explained  his  vote  as  to  postal  laws  in  seceding  States. 
February  12th,  he  reported  a  bill  in  favor  of  the  heirs  of 
Robert  Stockton,  of  New  Jersey,  Quarter  Master  in  the 
Army.  February  19th,  he  explained  that  his  colleague. 
Smith,  was  absent  on  account  of  sickness,  but  if  present 
would  vote  in  the  afhrmative. 

January  14th,  he  said  :  "  I  suppose  that  Congress  has 
for  forty  years  been  making  speeches  for  buncombe,  there 
will  be  no  objection  to  Buncombe  making  a  speech  for 
herself.  I,  therefore,  offer  a  resolution  from  Buncombe 
county  ;  also  one  from  Caldwell  county.  North  Carolina,  in 
relation  to  the  state  of  the  country,  and  ask  that  they  be 
referred  to  the  proper  committee."  Washburn,  of  Illinois, 
said  :  "  I  desire  to  know  whether  the  resolutions  are  in 
earnest  or  merely  for  buncombe."    Vance  replied  :    "  They 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  6r 

are  in  earnest.     Buncombe  never  speaks  for  herself  except 
when  in  dead  earnest." 

This  was  his  last  utterance  in  the  House.  Lincoln  was 
inaugurated  President  on  the  4th  of  March  ensuing,  which 
was  the  end  of  the  Thirty-Sixth  Congress.  And  although 
Vance  had  been  elected  to  the  Thirty-Seventh  Congress,  he 
was  in  the  Confederate  army  before  that  Congress  as- 
sembled. 


62  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BREAKING    OUT    OF    THE    WAR RAISES    A    COMPANY. BY 

GEN.  R.  B.  VANCE. 

The  Breaking  Out  of  the  War — Excitement  in  Asheville — Vance's 
Speech  at  Marshall — Lincoln's  Proclamation — Two  Volunteer 
Companies  Formed — Vance  Captain  of  the  Rough  and  Ready 
Guards — Its  Officers — Departure  from  Asheville — Arrival  in  Ral- 
eigh and  Assignment  to  the  Fourteenth  Regiment. 

THE  excitement  throughout  the  country  caused  by  the 
firing  upon   Fort  Sumter,  and  the  proclamation  of 
the   President  was  of  the  wildest  character.     ]\Ir.  Vance 

spoke  at  Marshall  on  the  —  day ,  1861.     He  had 

taken  ground  in  Congress  against  secession,  which  he 
strongly  opposed,  but  at  the  same  time  he  declared  his 
belief  in  the  right  of  revolution.  He  earnestly  warned  the 
country  of  the  danger  of  attempting  to  coerce  the  States  of 
the  South  by  force  of  arms.  He  had  in  the  closing  hours 
of  Congress,  with  all  the  warmth  of  his  heart  and  the 
power  of  his  eloquence,  exerted  himself  for  the  preservation 
of  the  Union,  and  that  this  should  be  done  peacefully. 

With  these  views,  he  spoke  at  IVIarshall.  The  court 
house  was  crowded,  the  people  solemn  and  attentive,  and 
Vance  delivered  his  address  without  anecdotes,  and  in  the 
most  feeling  manner.  Sorrow  and  gloom  were  depicted  on 
the  faces  of  the  people.  Vance  returned  to  Asheville  that 
night  and  found  the  citizens  in  a  state  of  agitation  and  ex- 
citement over  the  President's  proclamation.  The  very 
next  day  there  was  a  movement  for  raising  troops  to  act  in 
opposition  to  the  call  of  the  President.  The  first  company 
raised  in  Buncombe  was  that  of  Capt.  W.  W.  McDowell, 
afterwards  Maj.  McDowell  of  the  Confederate  States  Army. 
The  next  company  that  left  the  county  was  Vance's  com- 
pany, "The  Rough  and  Ready  Guards."     It  was  organized 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  63 

at  Aslieville  on  the  4th  day  of  May,  1861,  with  the  follow- 
ino-  officers  and  non-commissioned  officers  :  Zebnlon  B. 
Vance,  Captain;  Philetns  W.  Roberts,  First  Lieutenant; 
James  M.  Gudger,  Second  Lieutenant ;  Samuel  S.  Brown, 
Second  Lieutenant;  Frank  M.  Harney,  First  Sergeant; 
Branch  A.  Merrimon,  Second  Sergeant;  Thos.  D.  John- 
ston, Third  Sergeant;  Thomas  N.  Stephens,  Fourth 
Sergeant ;  J.  ]\L  Whitmire,  Fifth  Sergeant ;  I.  V.  Baird, 
First  Corporal ;  A.  G.  Horner,  Second  Corporal ;  A.  F. 
Harris,  Third  Corporal ;  D.  M.  Gudger,  Fourth  Corporal. 

The  day  that  the  "  Rough  and  Ready  Guards  "  left  Aslie- 
ville was  a  memorable  one.  The  streets  were  crowded  with 
people,  friends  and  admirers  of  the  company,  who  had 
come  to  see  the  gallant  boys  turn  their  faces  eastward. 
The  stirring  notes  of  drums  and  fifes,  the  waving  of  flags, 
the  thrilling  and  patriotic  echoes  of  "  Dixie,"  the  shouts  of 
the  people  and  the  tears  of  the  bystanders,  as  they  looked 
on  faces  never,  in  all  probability  to  be  seen  again  on  earth, 
made  it  indeed  a  scene  long  to  be  remembered.  The  gal- 
lant boys  passed  out  of  the  city  by  South  Main  Street, 
turned  to  the  left  at  the  Swannanoa,  and  passed  up  its 
beautiful  banks,  followed  for  miles  by  weeping  women  and 
loving  friends.  The  noble  and  heroic  men  of  this  company 
and  their  beloved  captain  are  not  forgotten  by  the  people, 
and  never  will  be  as  long  as  the  splintered  peaks  of  their 
mountains  pierce  the  sky  and  the  waters  from  the  vicinity 
of  Mitchell's  Peak  roll  murmuringly  to  the  sea.  The 
warmth  of  an  abiding  love  clings  around  the  dear  old 
veterans  who  are  spared  to  us,  while  the  tears  of  mothers, 
wives,  children,  sisters  and  sweethearts  embalm  the  resting 
places  of  the  dead,  where 

"  The  silent  pillar,  lone  and  gray, 
Claims  kindred  with  their  sacred  clay; 
Their  spirits  wrap  the  dusky  mountains, 
Their  memories  sparkle  o'er  the  fountains; 
The  meanest  rill,  the  mightiest  rirer, 
•  Roll  mingling  with  their  fame  forever." 


6/\.  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

The  "Guards"  camped  the  first  night  at  "West's  Old 
Field,"  which  is  to  the  present  day  the  rendezvous  of  the 
company  in  the  annual  reunions  of  the  survivors.  Capt. 
Vance  returned  to  his  home  that  night,  and  next  day,  on 
horseback,  passed  out  of  the  city  through  the  gap  of 
the  mountian  known  as  "  Beau  Catcher."  The  captain 
lingered  long  in  the  gap  overlooking  his  home  and  his  city. 
In  the  near  distance  the  French  Broad  rolled  on  with  its 
rugged  waters.  Still  further  away  old  Pisgah  lifted  its 
lofty  peaks  above  the  Hominies  and  Pigeon  rivers,  and 
further  still  the  Smoky  Range  endeavored  to  rival  Mount 
Mitchell  in  its  height  and  in  its  glory.  With  a  deep  sigh 
the  captain  turned  away  from  a  sight  so  entrancing.  It 
reminds  one  of  Boabdil,  in  the  gap  of  the  mountain  over- 
looking the  Alhambra  and  fair  Granada,  which  spot  has 
since  been  known  as  "The  Last  Sigh  of  the  Moor."  While 
not  knowing,  as  did  Boabdil,  that  he  would  never  see  his 
home  again,  it  was  highly  probable  that  he  never  would  be 
so  blessed. 

Captain  Vance,  on  his  arrival  at  Raleigh  with  his  com- 
pany, was  placed  in  the  Fourteenth  Regiment  of  North 
Carolina  Troops. 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  65 


CHAPTER  VII. 

AS  SOLDIER  AND  WAR  GOVERNOR. 

While  Captain  of  Rough  and  Ready  Guard  in  Fourteenth  Regiment,  is 
Elected  Colonel  of  the  Twenty-Sixth  Regiment — Takes  Command 
on  Bogue  Banks — Plans  to  Recapture  -Hatteras — Thwarted  by 
General  Gatling — Battle  of  Newbern — Considerable  Loss — Difficult 
Retreat — Swims  Bryce's  Creek  With  Men  and  Horses — Writes  a 
Letter  Declining  to  Run  for  Congress  in  His  Old  District — Letter 
Defining  His  Position  as  to  Running  for  Governor — Is  Nominated 
and  Elected  Governor — Sword  Presented  and  Speeches  Made  on 
Leaving  the  Army — Is  Inaugurated  Governor — First  Man  to  Put 
Down  Speculation  in  Provisions — W^rites  Letters  to  President 
Davis  and  Others  to  Prevent  Suspension  of  Habeas  Corpus — Re- 
quires Decisions  of  Judges  to  Be  Respected  by  the  Military — 
Objects  to  Foraging  Confederate  Cavalry  on  the  People  of  This 
State — Refuses  to  Impress  Negroes  to  Work  on  Railroads — Calls 
the  Cavalry  F'oragers  the  Eleventh  Plague  of  Egypt — Sends 
Money  to  Governor  Seymoi:r  to  Supply  North  Carolina  Prisoners 
With  Needed  Clothing — Blockade  Steamers  Carry  Out  Cotton  and 
Bring  Back  Supplies,  Clothing,  Guns,  Shoes,  Cotton  and  Woolen 
Cards,  Scythes,  Medicines,  Etc. 

N  the  fall  of  1861,  while  Captain  of  the  Rough  and 
Ready  Guards,  in  the  Fourteenth  Regiment,  Vance  was 
elected  Colonel  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Regiment.  Soon  after 
taking  command,  his  regiment  was  assigned  to  duty  on 
Bogue  Banks,  near  Fort  Macon.  This  was  shortly  after 
the  fall  of  Hatteras.  The  service  there  proving  monoto- 
nous, he  conceived  the  design  of  recapturing  Hatteras  by  a 
night  attack.  It  was  understood  the  garrison  was  small, 
and  Col.  Vance  thought  that  by  landing  a  few  hundred 
picked  men,  well  equipped  with  side-arms,  out  of  the  range 
of  the  guns  of  the  fort,  a  hurried  march  by  land  could  be 
made,  the  guard  overpowered  in  a  hand-to-hand  contest, 
and  the  fort  retaken.     After  conferring  with  a  few   of  his 

6 


66  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

chosen  officers,  lie  laid  the  project  before  Gen.  Gatling, 
who  commanded  the  department.  After  patiently  and 
rather  listlessly  hearing  the  details,  the  General  pronounced 
the  scheme  hazardous  and  impracticable,  and  refused  to 
give  his  assent. 

When  Roanoke  Island  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
Burnside  Newbern  was  seen  to  be  in  danger,  and  Vance's 
regiment,  with  other  troops,  was  moved  to  that  point. 
Here  on  Alarch  14th  the  battle  of  Newbern  was  fought. 
The  position  of  Vance's  regiment  was  on  the  right,  while 
on  his  right  was  an  impassable  swamp.  The  left  wing  of 
his  regiment  was  heavily  engaged  until  about  12  o'clock, 
when  the  boats  of  Burnside  passing  up  the  river  and  caus- 
ing the  troops  between  Vance's  regiment  and  the  river  to 
give  way,  a  retreat  was  ordered.  Vance's  regiment,  though 
heavily  pressed  and  sustaining  considerable  loss,  was 
among  the  last  to  leave  the  field.  The  bridges  on  the 
Trent  River  having  been  burned,  this  regiment  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  cut  off  and  captured.  But  not  so. 
The  Colonel  made  a  detour  by  the  left  flank,  crossing 
Brice's  Creek  by  swimming  a  number  of  men  and  horses, 
and  crossing  the  river  above  Trenton.  On  the  next  day  he 
marched  the  regiment  into  Kinston  in  good  order.  His 
skill  and  that  of  his  Lieutenant  Colonel,  Harry  Burgwyn, 
in  handling  the  troops  and  providing  for  their  welfare  at 
the  peril  of  their  own  safety  and  the  sacrifice  of  their  own 
comfort,  greatly  endeared  them  to  their  men.  The  regi- 
ment was  shortly  afterwards  ordered  to  Virginia,  and 
participated  in  the  seven  days'  fight  around  Richmond, 
being  actively  engaged  four  days,  and  winding  up  with  the 
Malvern  Hill  engagement  July  3d,  1862. 

At  the  general  election  of  August  in  that  year  he  was 
chosen  governor  of  the  State  by  a  very  large  majority. 
He  did  not  seek  the  office.  He  remained  at  his  post  in 
command  of  his  regiment  till  after  the  election.  He  took 
no  part  whatever  in    the  campaign,  but  made  known  his 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  67 

views  and  feelings  in  the  followino-  letter  to  the   Fayette- 
ville  Observer: 

Headquarters  Twenty-Sixth  Regiment  N.  C.  Troops, 
KiNSTON,  N.  C,  June  i6th,  1862. 
Editors  of  the  Observer: 

A  luimber  of  primary  meetings  of  the  people  and  a  respectable 
portion  of  the  newspapers  of  the  State  having  put  forward  my  name 
for  the  office  of  Governor,  to  which  I  may  also  add  the  reception  of 
numerous  letters  to  the  same  purport,  I  deem  it  proper  that  I  should 
make  some  response  to  these  flattering  indications  of  confidence  and 
regard. 

Believing  that  the  only  hope  of  the  South  depended  upon  the  prose- 
cution of  the  war  at  all  hazards  and  to  the  utmost  extremity  so  long  as 
the  foot  of  an  invader  pressed  Southern  soil,  I  took  the  field  at  an 
early  day,  with  the  determination  to  remain  there  until  our  independ- 
ence was  achieved.  My  convictions  in  this  regard  remain  unchanged. 
In  accordance  therewith  I  have  steadily  and  sincerely  declined  all 
promotion  save  that  which  placed  me  at  the  head  of  the  gallant  men 
whom  I  now  command.  A  true  man  should,  however,  be  willing  to 
serve  wherever  the  public  voice  may  assign  him.  If,  therefore,  my 
fellow-citizens  believe  that  I  could  serve  the  great  cause  better  as 
Governor  than  I  am  now  doing,  and  should  see  proper  to  confer  this 
great  responsibility  upon  me  withoiit  solicitation  on  my  part,  I  should 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  decline  it,  however  conscious  of  my  own  un- 
worthiness. 

In  thus  frankly  avowing  my  willingness  to  labor  in  any  position 
which  may  be  thought  best  for  the  public  good,  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
considered  guilty  of  the  affectation  of  indifference  to  the  great  honor 
which  my  fellow-citizens  thus  propose  to  bestow  upon  me.  On  the 
contrary,  I  should  consider  it  the  crowning  glory  of  my  life  to  be 
placed  in  a  position  where  I  could  most  advance  the  interests  and 
honor  of  North  Carolina,  and  if  necessary  lead  her  gallant  sons  against 
her  foes.  But  I  shall  be  content  with  the  people's  will.  Let  them 
speak. 

Sincerely  deprecating  the  growing  tendency  towards  party  strife 
amongst  our  people,  which  every  patriot  should  shun  in  the  presence 
of  the  common  danger,  I  earnestly  pray  for  that  unity  of  sentiment 
and  fraternity  of  feeling  which  alone,  with  the  favor  of  God,  can 
enable  us  to  prosecute  this  war  for  liberty  and  independence  against 
all  odds  and  under  every  adversit}-,  to  a  glorious  and  triumphant  issue. 
Very  truly  yours,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

He  had  previously  written  the  following  letter,  declining 
a  nomination  for  Congress  in  his  old  district  and  giving 
his  reasons: 


68  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Headquarters  Twenty-Sixtpi  Regiment  N.  C.  Troops, 

Camp  Burgwyn,  Near  Morehead  City,  vSept.  i8th,  1861. 
Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  of  the  2d  inst.,  addressed  to  my  brother, 
was  forwarded  by  him,  and  received  this  day.  In  it  j-ou  ask,  first,  if 
I  will  be  a  candidate  for  Congress,  and  second,  if  not  a  candidate,  will 
I  consent  for  my  name  to  be  run  ?  To  both  questions  I  answer  in  the 
negative.  To  this  course  I  am  impelled  by  what  I  consider  the  most 
conclusive  reasons. 

You  remember  well  the  position  I  occupied  upon  the  great  ques- 
tion which  so  lately  divided  the  people  of  the  South .  Ardently  devoted 
to  the  old  Union,  and  the  forms  which  the  Federal  fathers  established, 
I  clung  to  it  so  long  as  I  thought  there  was  a  shadow  of  hope  for  pre- 
servin,^,  purifying  or  reconstructing  it.  And  you  will  also  remember 
that  in  the  last  official  communication  I  had  the  honor  to  make  to  my 
constituents  as  their  Representative  I  pledged  myself  in  case  all  our 
efforts  for  peace  and  justice  at  the  hands  of  the  North  should  fail,  that 
their  cause  was  mine,  their  destiny  was  my  destiny,  and  that  all  I  had 
and  was  should  be  spent  in  their  service.  Those  hopes  did  fail,  as 
you  know,  signally  and  miserably  fail  ;  civil  war  was  thrust  upon  the 
country,  and  the  strong  arm  of  Northern  despotism  was  stretched  out 
to  crush  and  subdue  the  Southern  people.  I  immediately  volunteered 
for  their  defense,  in  obedience,  not  only  to  this  promise,  but  also,  as  I 
trust,  to  patriotic  instincts  ;  and  I  should  hold  this  promise  but  poorly 
fulfilled,  should  I  now,  after  having  acquired  sufficient  knowledge  of 
military  affairs  to  begin  to  be  useful  to  my  coxmtry,  escape  its  obliga- 
tions by  seeking,  or  even  accepting  a  civil  appointment. 

Certainly,  if  there  lives  a  man  in  North  Carolina  who  ought  to  do 
all  and  suffer  all  for  his  country,  I  am  that  man.  Since  the  time  of  my 
entering  upon  man's  estate  the  people  have  heaped  promotion  and 
honors,  all  undeserved,  upon  my  head.  In  everything  I  have  sought, 
their  generous  confidence,  their  unfailing  kindness  have  sustained 
me.  Whilst  I  can  never  sufficiently  repay  it,  I  am  determined,  God 
helping  me,  to  show  them  I  was  not  altogether  unworthy  of  their 
regard.,  I  am,  therefore,  not  a  candidate  for  Congress,  nor  will  I  con- 
sent for  my  name  to  be  run.  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  to  be  represented 
again  by  the  sound  sense  and  sober  judgment  of  the  gentleman  who 
has  so  lately  represented  us  at  Richmond,  or  by  a  dozen  gentlemen 
who  live  in  our  district  not  connected  with  the  army,  some  of  whom  I 
hope  the  common  peril  and  the  common  cause  will  induce  our  people 
to  elect,  without  bickering  and  strife. 

I  cannot  close  this  hasty  letter  without  assuring  you  that  I  am  not 
insensible  to  the  compliment  conveyed  by  your  own  and  a  hundred 
other  similar  interrogations,  which  have  reached  me  from  different 
parts  of  the  district.  No  man  can  feel  prouder  or  more  grateful  at 
such  manifestations.  Surely  God  has  never  blessed  a  man  with  more 
sterling  and  devoted  friends  than  I  can  number  in  the  mountain 
district. 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  69 

May  my  name  perish  from  the  memory  of  my  wife  and  children 
when  I  cease  to  remember  these  friends  with  gratitude. 

Among  the  many  who  have  adhered  so  faithfully  to  my  poor 
fortune  through  good  and  through  evil  report,  I  am  always  proud  to 
remember  you,  unfalteringly  and  unmistakably. 

Please  to  accept,  in  conclusion,  every  assurance  of  my  regards 
and  good  wishes  for  j-ou  and  yours. 

Most  truly  yours,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

To  N.  G.  Allman,  Esq.,  Franklin,  N.  C. 

Just  before  the  battle  of  Malvern  Hill  took  place  a  num- 
ber of  Colonel  Vance's  officers  and  men  besought  him  not 
to  go  into  the  fight  because  of  the  j^eculiarly  great  calamity 
that  would  follow  his  death  just  on  the  eve  of  the  election. 
But  it  was  not  of  his  nature  to  pay  heed  to  such  an  ad- 
monition. He  led  his  regiment  into  the  thickest  of  the 
fight,  as  usual,  and  came  out  unharmed.  The  election 
came  off  while  the  regiment  was  in  camp  near  Petersburg, 
and  Vance  received  every  vote  cast  in  the  regiment.  Be- 
fore he  left  the  army  to  prepare  for  his  inauguration  as 
Governor  the  officers  of  the  regiment  presented  him  with  a 
sword,  the  presentation  speech  being  made  by  the  late 
Iv.  L.  Polk,  the  Sergeant  Major  of  the  regiment.  Vance's 
speech  in  reply  was  characteristically  humorous  and  pa- 
thetic. 

He  was  inaugurated  on  the  8th  day  of  September,  under 
the  provisions  of  an  ordinance  of  the  Convention,  instead 
of  on  January  ist,  1863,  ^^  which  time  the  full  term  of 
Governor  Ellis,  then  lately  deceased,  would  expire. 

No  one  can  peruse  Governor  Vance's  letter  book  without 
being  impressed  with  the  fact  that  his  thoughts  were 
chiefly  occupied  while  Governor  in  devising  means  for 
clothing  and  feeding  the  North  Carolina  troops  in  the 
field  and  their  dependent  and  helpless  families  at  home. 
Upon  investigation  he  found  that  adequate  legislation  had 
not  been  provided  for  this  purpose,  and  just  ten  days  after 
his  inauguration  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Hon.  Weldon  N. 
Edwards,  President  of  the  State  Convention,  asking  him 


70  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

to  call  a  special  session  to  supply  the  needed  legislation. 
He  says  :  "  Speculation  and  extortion  have  attained  such 
proportions  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  clothe  and  shoe 
our  troops  except  at  most  outrageous  prices.  The  cr}-  of 
distress  comes  up  from  the  poor  wives  and  children  of  our 
soldiers  from  all  parts  of  the  State.  It  is  a  subject  which 
distresses  me  beyond  measure,  the  more  so  as  I  feel  power- 
less to  remedy  any  of  these  evils."  His  personal  staff 
consisted  of  Dr.  Edward  Warren,  Surgeon  General ;  J.  G. 
Martin,  Daniel  G.  Fowle  and  Richard  Gatlin,  successively, 
Adjutant  Generals ;  R.  H.  Battle  first,  and  then  M.  S. 
Robins,  private  secretary. 

It  seems  that  the  convention  was  not  called  together  as 
the  Governor  had  requested,  but  the  Legislature  convened 
in  regular  session  in  November,  and  so  soon  as  authority 
was  given  to  the  Governor,  he  proceeded  in  a  most  system- 
atic and  vigorous  w^ay,  to  make  provision  for  supplying  the 
soldiers  and  people  with  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of 
life.  Ocean  steamers  were  purchased,  the  "Advance"  and 
others,  to  transport  cotton  abroad.  These  steamers,  by  run- 
ning the  blockade  made  frequent  trips  to  Liverpool,  and 
were  reloaded  with  all  such  articles  as  were  most  needed 
by  the  people  of  the  State,  such  as  cotton  cards,  spinning 
wheels  and  sewing  and  knitting  needles,  for  the  use  of  the 
o-ood  housewives  in  making  clothes,  and  also  with  various 
kinds  of  machinery  for  the  use  of  the  cotton  and  woolen  mills 
the  State  ;  also  surgical  instruments  and  medicines.  An 
agent  was  sent  to  England  to  superintend  the  selling  of  the 
cotton  and  the  purchase  of  the  articles  which  so  much 
enhanced  the  comforts  of  the  soldiers  and  people. 

In  a  speech  delivered  in  Baltimore,  before  the  Associa- 
tion of  the  Maryland  Line,  in  1885,  Governor  Vance  made 
the  following  statement  as  to  what  had  been  accomplished 
by  blockade-running,  viz : 

By  the  general  industry  and  thrift  of  our  people,  and  by  the  use  of  a 
number  of  blockade-running  steamers,  carrying  out  cotton  and  bringing 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  71 

in  supplies  from  Europe,  I  had  collected  and  distributed  from  time  to 
time  as  near  as  could  be  gathered  from  the  records  of  the  Quartermas- 
ter's Department,  the  following  stores  :  Large  quantities  of  machinery- 
supplies  ;  60,000  pairs  of  hand  cards  ;  10,000  grain  scythes  ;  200  barrels 
of  bluestone  for  wheat-growers  ;  leather  and  shoes  to  250,000  pairs  ;  50,- 
000  blankets  ;  grey-wooled  cloth  for  at  least  250,000  suits  of  uniforms  ; 
12,000  overcoats,  ready-made  ;  2,000  best  Enfield  rifles,  with  100  rounds 
of  fixed  ammunition  ;  100, ooo  pounds  of  bacon  ;  500  sacks  of  coffee  for 
hospital  use  ;  550,000  worth  of  medicines  at  gold  prices  ;  large  quanti- 
ties of  lubricating  oils,  besides  minor  supplies  of  various  kinds  for  the 
charitable  institutions  of  the  State.  Not  only  was  the  supply  of  shoes, 
blankets  and  clothing  more  than  sufficient  for  the  supply  of  the  North 
Carolina  troops,  but  large  quantities  were  turned  over  to  the  Confed- 
erate government  for  the  troops  of  other  States.  In  the  winter 
succeeding  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  I  sent  to  General  Longstreet's 
corps  14,000  suits  of  clothing  complete.  At  the  surrender  of  General 
Johnston  the  State  had  on  hand  ready-made  and  in  cloth  92,000  suits 
of  uniforms,  with  great  stores  of  blankets,  leather,  etc.  To  make  good 
the  warrant  on  which  these  purchases  had  been  made  abroad,  the 
State  purchased  and  had  on  hand  in  trust  for  the  holders  11,000  bales 
of  cotton  and  100,000  barrels  of  rosin.  The  cotton  was  partly  destroyed 
before  the  war  closed  and  the  remainder,  amounting  to  several 
thousand  bales,  was  captured,  after  peace  was  declared,  by  certain 
officers  of  the  Federal  army. 

Next  to  feeding  and  clothing  the  soldiers  and  their 
families,  the  Governor  was  most  concerned  in  maintaining 
the  supremacy  of  the  civil  authorities  of  the  State  against 
the  aggressions  of  military  power,  and  in  mitigating  the 
hardships  of  the  conscript  law  and  other  measures  and 
methods  incident  to  a  state  of  war.  Inter  anna  silent  leges 
is  an  ancient  Latin  maxim  which  lias  been  somewhat 
fip-urativelv  translated  "  The  voice  of  the  law  is  silent  amid 
the  din  and  clash  of  arms." 

It  is  almost  universally  the  case  in  all  countries,  that  the 
military  becomes  paramount  to  the  civil  power  in  time  of 
war,  and  thus  the  liberty  of  the  citizen  is  at  least  tem- 
porarily destroyed,  and  the  rights  of  private  property  trod- 
den under  foot.  Governor  Vance  seems  to  have  determined 
at  the  very  beginning  of  his  administration  to  uphold  the 
civil  law^  and  keep  the  military  in  subjection,  especially 
where  personal  liberty  and  property  rights  were  concerned. 


72  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

He  was  determined  that  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  should 
not  be  suspended,  and  that  the  mandates  of  the  Judges  of 
the  Civil  Courts  should  be  respected  and  obeyed,  notwith- 
standing the  prevalence  of  war.  The  conscript  law  enacted 
by  the  Confederate  Congress  was,  of  course,  to  be  executed 
by  the  Confederate  military  authorities,  and  the  construc- 
tion of  that  law  as  to  ^^'hat  persons  were  subject  to  its 
provisions  was  primarily  a  matter  to  be  passed  upon  by 
these  officers.  But  their  jurisdiction  was  not  exclusive  or 
final.  Wherever  the  power  and  authority  of  a  State,  as 
such,  or  the  rights  and  liberties  of  any  of  its  citizens  were 
involved,  the  judges  of  the  civil  courts  had  jurisdiction, 
and  as  these  were  the  highest  and  only  constitutional 
tribunals  for  finally  deciding  such  cases,  Governor  Vance 
was  determined  that  their  decisions  should  be  respected 
and  obeyed.  The  struggle  was  long  and  difficult.  He 
had  many  sharp  encounters  with  the  Confederate  officials, 
and  was  sometimes  accused  of  being  hostile  to  that  govern- 
ment and  of  throwing  obstacles  in  its  way.  And  3^et  he 
equipped  and  sent  to  the  field  more  troops,  according  to 
population,  than  were  sent  from  any  other  State — one-sixth, 
in  fact,  of  all  the  men  mustered  into  the  Confederate  army. 
And  investigation  will  show  that  in  every  instance  he  was 
only  contending  for  the  constitutional  and  legal  rights  of 
the  citizens  of  the  State  as  against  the  encroachments  and 
usurpations  of  the  military  authorities. 

By  persistence,  tact  and  wonderful  courage  he  won  the 
final  triumph.  To  him  is  due  the  proud  distinction  that 
in  North  Carolina  alone,  of  all  the  States,  with  one  possible 
exception,  in  the  United  States  or  the  Confederate  States, 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  at  no  time  suspended  during 
the  four  years'  war.  Referring  to  this  subject  in  his  third 
inaugural  address,  delivered  in  January,  1877,  he  said: 

It  was  North  Carolina,  who  with  one  other  State  to  assist  her,  re- 
fused to  agree  to  a  provision  in  the  American  constitution  permitting 
Congress  in  any  emergency  to  suspend  the  privileges  of  the  great  writ 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  73 

of  human  liberty  ;  it   was  in   North   Carolina,    and   I  believe   only  in 

North  Carolina,  that  in  the  midst  of   the   greatest  civil  war  of  modern 

times,  when  forty  millions  of  people  were  engaged  in  desperate  strife, 

amid  the  gleaming  of  bayonets,  the  roaring  of  cannon,  the  thunder  of 

charging  squadrons   and   the   light   of   burning   cities  the  civil  power 

maintained  its  suprcMuac)- over  the   military,    the   judge   was    obeyed  /  jifj    ^  %J"?  ] 

infer  anna  audebantcr  leges.  (  '  / 

The  following;-  copies  of  letters  from  Governor  Vance  s 
official  letter  book  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  efforts 
he  made  <to  uphold  the  supremacy  of  the  civil  law,  miti- 
gate the  hardships  of  war  in  general  and  of  the  conscript 
law  in  parlicular,  and  to  provide  for  the  comforts  and 
necessities  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field  and  their  families  at 
home : 

Raleigh,  N.  C,  October  25th,  1862. 
His  Excellency  Jefferson  Davis  : 

Dear  Sir  :  When  in  Richmond,  I  had  the  honor  to  call  your  at- 
tention, in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Randolph,  to  the  subject  of  allowing 
the  conscripts  the  privilege  of  selecting  the  regiments  to  which  they 
should  go.  I  understood  you  and  the  Secretary  both  to  assent  to  it 
willingly. 

A  few  days  after  my  return  home,  therefore,  I  was  much  surprised 
and  grieved  to  find  an  order  coming  from  the  Secretary  to  Major  Mal- 
let to  disregard  an  order  to  this  eifect  from  Brigadier-General  Martin, 
and  to  place  all  of  them  in  certain  brigades  under  General  French.  I 
immediately  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Randolph  protesting  against  it, 
and  giving  my  reasons  for  so  doing.  To  this  letter,  after  the  lapse  of 
two  weeks,  I  have  received  no  reply.  Last  week  about  one  hundred 
men  were  brought  into  camp  from  one  county  above,  from  a  region 
somewhat  lukewarm,  who  had  been  got  to  come  cheerfully,  under  the 
solemn  promise  made  them  by  my  enrolling  oiEcer  that  they  should 
be  allowed  to  join  any  regiment  they  desired,  according  to  the  pub- 
lished order.  Under  the  circumstances,  General  Martin  said  they 
might  have  their  choice,  started  them  accordingly,  and  wrote  to 
General  French,  begging  his  consent  to  the  arrangement.  He  refused, 
and  according  to  a  note  received  from  him,  the  men  were  stopped  at 
Petersburg  and  distributed  equall}'  to  certain  regiments,  as  quarter- 
master's stores  or  any  other  chattel  property,  alleging  that,  by  not 
coming  in  sooner,  they  had  forfeited  all  claims  to  consideration. 

On  the  shortsightedness  and  inhumanity  of  this  harsh  course  towards 
our  people  I  shall  offer  no  comment.  I  wish  not  only  to  ask  that  a 
more  liberal  policy  may  be  adopted,  but  to  make  it  the  occasion  of  in- 
forming you  also  of  a  few  things  of  a  political  nature,  which  you  ought 
to  have. 


v" 


74  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

The  people  of  this  State  have  ever  been  eminently  conservative, 
and  jealous  of  their  political  rights.  The  transition  from  their  former 
opinions  anterior  to  our  troubles,  to  a  state  of  revolution  and  war,  was 
a  sudden  and  very  extraordinary  one.  Prior  to  Lincoln's  proclama- 
tion the  election  of  delegates  to  our  proposed  Convention,  exhibited  a 
popular  majority  of  upwards  of  30,000  against  secession  for  existing 
causes.  The  late  election,  after  sixteen  months  of  war  and  member- 
ship with  the  Confederacy,  shows  conclusively  that  the  original 
advocates  of  secession  no  longer  hold  the  ear  of  our  people.  Without 
the  warm  and  ardent  support  of  the  old  Union  men  North  Carolina 
could  not  so  promptly  and  generously  have  been  brought  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  seceding  States,  and  without  that  same  influence  constantly 
and  unremittingly  given,  the  present  status  could  not  be  main- 
tained forty-eight  hours.  These  are  facts.  I  allude  to  them,  not  to 
remind  you  of  my  heretofore  political  differences,  (which  I  earnestly 
hope  are  buried  in  the  graves  of  our  gallant  countrymen),  but  simply 
to  give  you  information. 

The  coirollary  to  be  deduced  is  briefly  this  :  that  the  opinions  and 
advice  of  the  old  Union  leaders  must  be  heeded  with  regard  to  the 
government  of  affairs  in  North  Carolina,  or  the  worst  consequences 
may  ensue.  I  am  candid  with  you  for  the  cause's  sake.  I  believe, 
sir,  most  sincerely,  that  the  conscript  law  could  not  have  been  executed 
b)'  a  man  of  different  antecedents  from  mj-self,  without  outbreaks 
among  our  people.  And  now,  with  all  the  popularity  with  which  I 
came  into  office,  it  will  be  exceedingly  difiicult  for  me  to  execute  it 
under  your  recent  call,  with  all  the  assistance  you  can  afford  me.  If, 
on  the  contrary.  West  Point  generals,  who  know  much  less  of  human 
nature  than  I  do  of  military  service,  are  to  ride  rough-shod  over  the 
people,  drag  them  from  their  homes,  and  assign  them,  or  rather  con- 
sign them  to  strange  regiments  and  strange  commanders,  without 
regard  to  their  wishes  or  feelings,  I  must  be  compelled  to  decline 
undertaking  a  task  which  will  certainly  fail.  These  conscripts  are 
entitled  to  consideration.  They  comprise  a  number  of  the  best  men 
in  their  communities,  whom  indispeiigjble  business,  large  and  helpless 
families,  poverty  and  distress,  in  a  thousand  shapes,  have  combined 
to  keep  at  home  until  the  last  moment.  In  spite  of  all  the  softening 
I  could  give  to  the  law,  and  all  the  appeals  that  could  be  made  to  their 
patriotism,  much  discontent  has  grown  up,  and  now  the  waters  of 
insubordination  begin  to  surge  more  angrily  than  ever,  as  the  extended 
law  goes  into  effect.  Many  openly  declare  they  want  not  another  con- 
script to  leave  the  State  until  provision  is  made  for  her  own  defense. 
Others  say  it  will  not  leave  labor  sufficient  to  support  the  women  and 
children,  and  therefore  it  must  not  be  executed.  Thousands  are 
flying  from  our  eastern  counties,  with  their  slaves,  to  the  centre  and 
west,  to  devour  the  very  short  crops,  and  increase  the  prospects  of 
starvation.     Governor  Letcher  is  threatening  to  deprive  the  State  of  a 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  75 

contract  we  have  for  procurint;  salt  in  Virginia,  and  when  the  enemy 
secures  Wilmington  (which  he  no  doubt  will  do  when  the  pestilence 
abates)  we  shall  have  no  assurance  of  obtaining  it  from  any  other 
source,  hence  I  am  importuned  bj^  man}-  to  defend  our  own  coast 
myself.  You  see  the  difficulties  that  beset  me.  But  through  them  all 
I  have  endeavored  and  shall  endeavor  to  hold  my  course  straight  for- 
ward for  the  common  good.  It  is  disheartening,  however,  to  find  that 
I  am  thwarted  in  so  small  a  matter  as  this,  which  is  yet  a  great  one  to 
the  conscript.  I  have  thus  spoken  candidly  and  explicitly.  I  beg  that 
you  will  not  in  any  matter  misitnderstand  me,  or  fail  to  appreciate  mj' 
motives.  I  trust  that,  whether  on  the  field  or  in  the  council,  I  have 
established  my  claim  to  respect  and  confidence.  I  can  do  much 
towards  increasing  our  armies,  if  properly  aided  by  the  War  Depart- 
ment. When  the  sowing  of  the  wheat  crop  is  completed,  fifteen  or 
twenty  thousand  men  can  be  got  out  in  a  short  time,  especially  if  an 
assurance  can  be  given  that  an  adequate  proportion  will  be  sent  to  the 
defense  of  our  own  coast  and  suffering  people.  *  *  *  *  A  course  of 
justice  and  fair  treatment  will  do  more  than  all  besides  in  bringing 
our  entire  able  bodied  population  in  the  field. 

Earnestly  requesting  that  my  representation  of  things  in  North 
Carolina  may  enable  you  to  do  that  which  is  for  the  best,  and  will 
most  advance  the  great  cause  for  which  the  nation  is  suffering  and 
bleeding,  I  remain,  with  kindest  respect. 

Your  obedient  servant,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  November  nth,  1862. 
His  Excellency  President  Davis  : 

My  Dear  Sir  :  By  the  recent  expedition  of  our  troops  by  the 
order  of  General  French  into  eastern  North  Carolina  some  fort}'  persons 
were  arrested  on  suspicion  of  disloyalty  and  sent  up  to  Salisburv  for 
safe  keeping.  As  Governor  of  the  State  of  which  they  are  citizens,  it 
becomes  my  duty  to  see  that  they  are  protected  in  whatever  rights 
pertain  to  them.  First  among  them  is  the  undeniable  right  of  a  trial  of 
their  alleged  offenses.  A  number  of  others,  it  is  proper  to  state,  have 
been  there  in  confinement  for  some  time  past  under  similar  circum- 
stances. I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  disposition  is  to  be  made  of 
them,  or  if  there  exists  any  grave  public  reason  why  their  cases  should 
not  be  investigated. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  November  19th,  1S62. 
Gen.  G.  W.  Smith,  Acting  Secretary  of  War  : 

Dear  Sir  :  His  Excellency  Governor  Vance  received  a  com- 
munication from  your  immediate  predecessor,  the  Honorable  George 
W.    Randolph,  in   which  he    states    that    "in    consequence    of    the 


76  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

threatened  attacks  upon  the  railroad  connections  in  the  eastern  por- 
tions of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  oiir  inability'  at  present  to 
withdraw  from  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia  reinforcements  suffi- 
ciently large  to  secure  those  connections,  it  is  considered  very 
important  to  complete  the  Danville  and  Greensboro  connection  as 
speedily  as  possible,"  and  asking  him  to  aid  in  procuring  hands  to 
work  upon  that  improvement. 

His  Excellency  instructs  me  to  say  that  he  will  most  cheerfully 
give  whatever  assistance  he  can  consistently  with  his  sense  of  duty  to 
further  the  speedy  completion  of  this  work,  but  at  the  same  time  he 
hopes  it  will  not  be  improper  to  remark  that  the  government  should  at 
all  hazards,  and  at  all  times,  defend  our  present  railroad  connections 
at  Weldon.  That  section  of  the  country  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  government,  abounding  in  abundant  supplies  for  the  army. 

His  Excellency  must  decline  authorizing  or  recommending  the 
Legislature  to  authorize  the  drafting  slaves  for  this  purpose.  Vast 
numbers  of  slaves  are  leaving  our  eastern  counties,  threatened  with 
invasion,  and  their  owners  are  anxiously  seeking  employment. 

The  contractors  upon  the  work  can,  without  the  intervention  of 
the  public  authorities,  obtain  the  most  abundant  supply  of  hands,  if 
they  will  offer  fair  and  remunerative  prices. 

Yours  very  respectfully,  DAVID  A.  BARNES, 

Aid-de-Camp  to  the  Governor. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  January  26th,  1863. 
Hon.  James  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War,  Richmond,   Va. 

Sir  :  I  had  the  honor  to  complain  to  His  Excellency,  the  Presi- 
dent and  your  immediate  predecessor,  Mr.  Randolph,  in  regard  to  the 
manner  of  enforcing  the  Conscript  Act  in  this  State,  and  of  disposing 
of  the  men  in  regiments,  during  the  mouth  of  October  last.  I  am 
compelled  again,  greatly  to  my  regret,  to  complain  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  Col.  August  as  commandant  of  conscripts  for  North  Carolina, 
who  has  recently  assumed  command  here. 

Merely  alluding  to  the  obvious  impropriety  and  bad  policy  of 
wounding  the  sensibilities  of  our  people  by  the  appointment  of  a 
citizen  of  another  State  to  execute  a  law,  both  harsh  and  odious,  I 
wish  to  say,  sir,  in  allcandor  that  it  smacks  of  discourtesy  to  our  people 
to  say  the  least  of  it.  Having  furnished  as  many  (if  not  more)  troops 
for  the  service  of  the  Confederacy,  as  any  other  State,  and  being,  as  I 
was  assured  by  the  President,  far  ahead  of  all  others  in  the  number 
raised  under  the  conscript  law,  the  people  of  this  State  have  justly 
felt  mortified  in  seeing  those  troops  commanded  bj^  citizens  of  other 
States,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  claims  of  their  own.  This  feeling  is  in- 
creased and  heightened  into  a  very  general  indignation  when  it  is  thus 
officially  announced  that  North  Corolina  has  no  man  in  her  borders 
fit  to  command  her  own  conscripts,  though  scores  of  her  noblest  sons 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  ']'] 

and  best  officers  are  now  at  home  with  mutilated  limbs  and  shattered 
constitutions. 

Without  the  slightest  prejudice  against  Colonel  August  or  the 
State  from  which  he  comes,  I  protest  against  his  appointment  as  both 
unjust  and  impolitic.  Having  submitted  in  silence  to  the  many,  very 
many  acts  of  the  Administration,  heretofore,  so  calculated  to  wound 
that  pride  which  North  Carolina  is  so  pardonable  for  entertaining,  it 
is  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  if  persisted  in,  the  appointment  of 
strangers  to  all  the  positions  in  this  State  and  over  her  troops,  will 
cause  a  feeling  throughout  her  whole  borders,  which  it  is  my  great 
desire  to  avoid. 

Trusting,  sir,  that  you  can  appreciate  the  feelings  of  our  people, 
and  will  pardon  the  frankness  with  which  I  have  spoken,  I  have  the 
honor  to  remain.         Most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Rai^EiGH,  February  3d,  1863. 
General  W.  H.  C.  Whiting: 

Dear  Sir  :  His  Excellency  Governor  Vance  has  received  your 
communication  calling  his  attention  to  the  fact  of  the  issuing  of  writs 
of  habeas  corpus  to  bring  the  cases  of  minors  before  courts  in  distant 
parts  of  the  State,  and  he  directs  me  to  say  in  repl}-  that  your  letter 
contained  the  first  intimation  that  such  writs  had  been  issued. 

The  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  the  common  right  of  every  man  and 
he  has  neither  the  power  or  inclination  to  prevent  the  issuing  of  such 
process.  Yours  very  respectfulh^,  DAVID  A.  BARNES, 

Aid-de-Camp  to  the  Governor. 

State  of  North  Caroi^ina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  February  12th,  1863. 
Hon.  James  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War  : 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your 
letter  of  the  4th  instant,  invoking  the  aid  of  the  authorities  of  this 
State  to  procure  labor  for  the  completion  of  the  Danville  Railroad, 
and  also  asking  my  influence  with  the  Legislature  in  securing  the 
gauge  of  that  road  to  correspond  with  that  of  the  Virginia  road.s. 
The  object  is  a  most  important  one,  and  commends  itself  strongl)'  to 
my  favor.  But  under  all  circumstances  I  feel  compelled  to  decline 
impressing  slaves  to  aid  in  its  completion.  For  many  months  past 
the  eastern  part  of  this  State  has  been  furnishing  labor  upon  all  the 
public  works  from  Wilmington  to  Petersburg,  and  no  less  than  twenty 
counties  are  so  employing  their  slaves.  In  the  region  through  which 
this  road  runs  there  are  very  few  slaves,  and  the  ver}-  existence  of  the 
people  requires  them  to  labor  on  their  farms. 

In  addition  to  the  fact  that  this  road  is  viewed  with  almost  uni- 
versal disfavor  in  the  State,  as  entirely  ruinous  to  many  east  of  it,  and 


78  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

that  the  charter  never  could  have  been  obtained  but  as  a  pressing  war 
necessit}',  I  feel  it  due  to  candor  that  I  should  add  there  exists  a  very 
general  impression  here  that  upon  the  completion  of  the  Danville 
connection,  as  it  is  termed,  the  eastern  lines  of  our  roads  would  be 
abandoned  to  the  enemy.  How  far  this  opinion  does  injustice  to  the 
War  Department,  I  am  not  able  to  say.  I  merely  state  the  fact.  For 
these  reasons,  with  the  additional  one  that  the  road  is  being  constructed 
by  private  contractors,  I  do  not  feel  that  I  could  be  justified  in  forcing 
the  labor  of  citizens  upon  it.  I  assure  you  I  regret  this  exceedingly, 
not  only  on  account  of  the  importance  of  the  work  itself  to  our  militar}' 
operations,  but  also  because  it  is  exceedingly  unpleasant  for  me  to 
refuse  to  do  anything  whatsoever,  which  is  requested  by  the  Confed- 
erate authorities,  and  regarded  as  important  to  the  general  cause.  In 
regard  to  the  gauge  of  the  road,  I  have  to  say  that  the  proposition  to 
make  it  conform  to  the  Virginia  roads  had  been  disposed  of  in  the 
negative  before  yours  was  received. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

St.^te  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
RaIvEiGH,  Februarj'  25th,  1863. 
Hon.  J.  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War  : 

Sir  :  I  had  the  honor  some  three  weeks  or  a  month  ago,  to  address 
you,  respectfully  asking  the  removal  of  a  lot  of  broken  down  cavalry 
horses  from  the  northwestern  counties  of  this  State,  of  General 
Jenkins'  command,  which  were  devouring  the  substance  of  a  people 
threatened  with  famine.  I  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  a 
reply  to  that  letter. 

I  beg  leave  to  inform  you  that  their  depredations  are  still  continued, 
and  that  they  have  become  not  only  a  nuisance  but  a  terror  to  the 
community,  and  to  enclose  you  a  letter  from  Colonel  Forkner,  of 
the  Seventy-Third  North  Carolina  Militia,  giving  evidence  of  their 
behaviour.  With  every  possible  disposition  to  aid  in  the  support  of 
the  army,  I  have  the  strongest  reasons  conceivable,  the  existence  of 
my  own  people,  for  declining  to  permit  these  horses  to  remain  in  that 
section  of  the  State.  When  the  question  of  starvation  is  narrowed 
down  to  women  and  children  on  the  one  side  and  some  worthless 
cavalry  horses  on  the  other,  I  can  have  no  difficulty  in  making  a  choice. 

Unless  they  are  removed  soon,  I  shall  be  under  the  painful  neces- 
sity of  calling  out  the  militia  of  the  adjoining  counties  and  driving 
them  from  the  State.  I  hope,  however,  to  be  spared  such  a  proceed- 
ing. Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  February  27th,  1863. 
Brigadier  General  Davis,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

General  :     In  my  last  letter  to  you  I  i-eferred  to  a  report  that  a 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  79 

number  of  prisoners  taken  on  Laurel  had  been  shot  in  cold  blood,  and 
expressed  the  hope  it  might  not  prove  true. 

I  fear,  however,  it  is  even  worse  than  was  first  reported.  I  beg 
leave  to  ask  your  attention  to  the  copy  enclosed  of  a  part  of  a  letter 
from  A.  S.  Merrimon,  Esq.,  Attorney  for  the  State  in  that  district,  and 
to  respectfully  request  you  to  make  inquiry  into  the  truth  of  the 
statement  therein  with  a  view  to  proceedings  against  the  guilty  parties. 
Whilst  expressing  again  my  thanks  for  the  prompt  aid  rendered  by 
your  command  in  quieting  the  troubles  in  that  region,  I  cannot  recon- 
cile it  to  my  sense  of  duty  to  pass  by  in  silence  such  cruel  and 
barbarous  conduct  as  is  alleged  to  have  characterized  a  portion  of  them, 
and  more  especially  as  the  officers  mentioned  are  citizens  of  this  State. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Caroi.ina,  Executive  Department, 
RaIvEiGh,  February  28th,  1863. 
Judge  Osborne,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  am  informed  upon  undoubted  authority  that 
there  are  quite  a  number  of  distilleries  in  operation  in  Lincoln  and 
adjoining  counties  in  open  defiance  of  the  law.  People  expect  me  to 
do  everything  now-a-days  and  have  therefore  called  on  me  to  enforce 
this  law,  and  as  there  is'no  Solicitor  for  that  district,  I  am  compelled 
to  call  on  you.  It  requires  a  prompt  remedy.  Will  you  please  to  issue 
bench  warrants  against  the  offenders,  or  take  such  other  steps  as  to 
you  may  seem  best  to  bring  them  sharp  up  and  put  a  stop  to  these 
operations  ?     I  would  be  greatly  obliged. 

Very  respectfully,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  February  28th,  1863. 
Honorable  James  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  oj  War: 

Sir  :  Some  six  months  since  a  disturbance  occurred  in  Madison 
county,  N.  C,  near  the  Tennessee  border,  by  some  disloyal  persons 
capturing  the  little  county  town  and  seizing  a  lot  of  salt  and  other 
plunder.  An  armed  force  was  promptly  sent  from  Knoxville  under 
command  of  General  Davis  to  suppress  the  insurrection  which  was 
accomplished  before  the  local  militia  could  get  there,  though  ordered 
out  immediately. 

But  in  doing  so,  a  degree  of  cruelty  and  barbarity  was  displayed, 
shocking  and  outrageous  in  the  extreme,  on  the  part  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  J.  A.  Keith,  Sixty-Fourth  North  Carolina  Troops,  who  seems  to 
have  been  in  command  and  to  have  acted  in  this  respect  without  orders 
from  his  superiors,  so  far  as  I  can  learn.  I  beg  leave  to  ask  you  to 
read  the  enclosed  letter  (copy)  from  A.  S.  Merrimon,  State's  Attorney 
for  that  Judicial  District,  which  you  will  perceive  discloses  a  scene  of 
horror  disgraceful  to  civilization.  I  desire  you  to  have  proceedings 
instituted  at  once  against  this  officer,  who  if  the  half  be  true,  is  a  dis- 
grace to  the  service  and  to  North  Carolina. 


8o  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

You  may  depend  upon  the  respectability  and  fairness  of  Mr. 
Merrimon,  who  made  an  investigation  oflBcially  by  my  order.  I  have 
also  written  General  Davis. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  March  20th,  1S63. 
Co/onel  T.  P.  August,  Commanding  Cojiscripts,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Colonel  :  I  desire  to  have  an  understanding  with  the  War 
Department  in  regard  to  the  conscription  of  State  ofiBcers.  Applica- 
tions are  made  to  me  almost  every  day  to  apply  for  the  exemption  or 
detail  of  such  officers,  and  it  is  proper  the  matter  should  be  defined. 

Zealous  as  I  have  been  and  continue  to  be  in  the  enforcement  of 
the  law,  I  cannot  permit  my  own  officers  to  be  conscripted.  The 
ground  I  shall  assume  is,  that  all  State  officers  and  employes  neces- 
sar}'  to  the  operation  of  this  government — of  which  necessity  I  must 
judge — shall  not  be  interfered  with  by  the  enrolling  officers,  and  any 
attempt  to  arrest  such  men  will  be  resisted. 

This  I  deem  not  only  necessary  to  the  due  administration  of  the 
government,  but  due  to  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the  sovereign  State 
over  whose  destinies  I  have  the  honor  to  preside. 

If  not  authorized  to  decide  in  the  premises  yourself,  I  respectfully 
request  that  you  lay  the  matter  before  the  War  Department. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  March  21st,  1863. 
Ho7iorable  Jas.  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War : 

Sir  :  Yours  of  the  7th  instant,  enclosing  letters  from  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Cook  and  General  Jones,  in  relation  to  impressment  of  forage 
by  a  detachment  of  General  Jenkins'  Cavalry  has  been  received.  I 
am  sorrj'  to  see  that  the  charge  of  impressment  is  denied  upon  the 
authority  of  "Sergeant  Hale"  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  citizens 
of  about  twenty  counties,  with  at  least  fifty  letters  to  that  effect  in 
my  office  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  to  establish  a  fact  of  gen- 
eral notoriety.  These  men  were  in  several  detachments  operating 
in  as  many  different  counties,  and  Sergeant  Hale  hardly  could  know 
what  they  were  all  doing  at  the  same  time.  Their  method  was  to  go 
to  a  farmer's  house  and  tell  him  they  wanted  corn  at  I1.50  per  bushel, 
and  if  he  did  not  sell  they  would  take  it.  In  some  instances  their 
Quartermasters  attended  public  sales  and  publicly  notified  the  assem- 
blage (most  of  them  families  of  absent  soldiers)  that  they  need  not,bid 
for  the  corn,  that  they  were  determined  to  have  it.  Yielding  where 
resistance  would  have  been  useless,  they  (the  cavalry)  took  the  corn  at 
such  prices  as  they  saw  proper  to  pay.  And  this  is  not  impressment  ? 
I  beg  leave  also  to  assure  you  that  the  imputations  indulged  in  by 
General  Jones  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Cook  against  the  loyalty  of  the 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  .      Ol 

people  of  that  region  (I  suppose  also  on  the  authority  of  Sergeant 
Hale)  are  entirely  without  foundation  in  fact.  The  refusal  to  take 
Confederate  money,  (if  such  was  the  case)  originated  solely  in  the  fact 
that  they  did  not  have  the  corn  to  sell.  Neither  North  Carolina  money 
or  gold  could  buy  an  article  which  was  not  in  the  country.  That 
country,  to  my  personal  knowledge,  may  safely  challenge  any  similar 
region  in  the  South  to  show  a  better  muster  roll  in  the  army.  But  that 
is  not  the  matter  at  issue.  I  complain  that  a  large  body  of  broken 
down  cavalry  horses  are  in  North  Carolina  eating  up  the  subsistence 
of  the  people  in  a  region  desolated  by  drouth  and  reduced  to  the  verge 
of  starvation,  impressing  it  at  prices  about  one-half  the  market  rate; 
the  people  or  the  horses  must  suffer.  I  ask  for  the  removal  of  the 
horses.     Is  it  denied  or  refused  .-'     That  is  the  question. 

I  beg  leave  to  disabuse  your  mind  of  the  impression  which  it  seems 
to  entertain,  that  I  objected  to  these  impressments  because  they  were 
for  Virginia  Cavalry.  By  no  means.  I  did  not  term  them  such,  at 
least  did  not  so  intend  to  term  them.  I  have  no  prejudice  against  the 
troops  from  any  State  engaged  in  defending  the  Common  Cause.  But 
I  am  unwilling  to  see  the  bread  taken  from  the  mouths  of  women  and 
children  for  the  use  of  any  troops,  when  those  troops  might  be  easily 
removed  to  regions  where  there  is  corn  to  sell.  And  I  earnestly 
request  once  more  that  they  be  so  removed. 

Ver)^  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

Rai<Eigh,  N.  C,  March  21st,  1863. 
Ho7iorable  Javies  A.  Seddo7t,  Secretary  of  War  : 

Sir  :  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  the  statements  contained 
in  the  enclosed  letter  from  Lieutenant  F.  P.  Axby,  a  respectable  young 
soldier,  resident  of  Cherokee  county,  North  Carolina.  From  it  you 
will  perceive  that  his  brother  and  two  other  citizens  of  that  county 
have  been  arrested  by  a  parcel  of  armed  soldiers  from  Georgia,  and 
carried  off  no  one  knows  where  or  wh)^  My  object  is  to  ascertain  why 
these  citizens  of  North  Carolina  were  so  arrested,  what  for,  by  whose 
authorit}',  where  they  are  taken  to,  and  what  is  proposed  to  be  done 
with  them  ?  Presuming  that  the  whole  thing  has  been  done  without 
your  knowledge,  I  ask  these  questions  of  you  because  you  have  the 
means  of  obtaining  answers  to  them  which  I  have  not.  As  such  pro- 
ceedings cannot  be  tolerated  for  a  moment,  I  have  issued  orders 
pe7idenfe  lite  to  the  State  officers  of  that  county  to  call  out  the  militia 
and  shoot  the  first  man  who  attempts  to  perpetrate  a  similar  outrage 
without  the  authority  of  the  marshal  of  that  district. 

Hoping  that  you  may  find  leisure  to  answer  soon,  I  am,  sir,  with 
every  sentiment  of  respect  and  regard, 

Your  obedient  servant,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

R.\i,EiGH,  March  25th,  1863. 
Honorable  Javies  A.  Seddon,  Richmond,   Va. 

General  Pillow  has  sent  a  detachment  of    cavalry   into  Western 

7 


82  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

North  Carolina  to  enroll  and  arrest  conscripts  without  the   shadow  of 
law  and  in  defiance  of  the  proper  authorities. 

Please  order  it  stopped  through  Colonel  Collart,  Greenville, 
Tenn.,  or  there  will  be  resistance  and  bloodshed. 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  April  4th,  1863. 
His  Excellency  Joh7i  Gill  Shorter,  Mo7itgotnery ,  Ala. 

Sir  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the  31st,  ultimo,  in  relation 
to  procuring  a  supply  of  cloth  for  the  cadets  of  your  University  from 
the  factories  of  this  State. 

I  sincerely  regret  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  grant  your  request 
without  doing  injustice  to  our  own  soldiers.  This  State,  as  j'ou  are 
aware,  clothes  her  own  troops  by  contract  with  the  Quartermaster 
General,  and  we  are  now  so  far  behind,  and  our  soldiers  are  in  such 
need,  that  it  requires  much  more  than  the  whole  product  of  our  mills 
to  supply  them. 

Under  such  circumstances  I  feel  confident  you  will  appreciate  the 
necessity  which  compels  me  to  decline. 

Very  respectfully,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  oe  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  April  7th,  1863. 
Honorable  James  A.   Seddoti,  Secretary  of  JPar: 

Dear  Sir  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  yours  of  the  2d,  inclosing  copy  of 
General  Donelson's  dispatch,  etc. 

There  is  no  need  of  troops  at  Asheville,  there  being  no  disorder 
there,  except  that  which  is  threatened  by  the  illegal  seizure  of  con- 
scripts by  General  Pillow's  Independent  Conscript  Bureau.  All  that 
is  necessary  there,  is  to  order  General  Pillow's  men  to  cease  their 
operations  and  permit  the  regular  enrolling  officers  to  perform  their 
duties. 

In  the  adjoining  counties  of  Yancey,  Mitchell  and  Watauga  the 
tories  and  deserters  are  in  strong  force,  and  the  force  ordered  to  Ashe- 
ville should  be  sent  there  at  once. 

Very  respectfully,  etc.,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

Raleigh,  N.  C,  May  22d,  1863. 
Hon.  Jas.  A.  Seddoti,  Secretary  of  War,  Richmond,  Va. 

Sir  :  Your  several  communications  in  regard  to  recent  decisions 
of  Chief  Justice  Pearson  in  the  cases  of  Irwin  and  Mitchell,  under  the 
operations  of  the  act  of  conscription,  have  been  received  and  duly 
considered. 

I  do  most  sincerely  regret  that  such  a  state  of  things  should  exist 
as  a  serious  and  important  difference  between  the  authorities  of  this 
State  and  those  of  the  Confederacy,  on  a  matter  touching  so  vitally 


UFE   OF  VANCE.  83 

the  efficiency  of  the  armj'  and  the  public  defence.  I  feel,  however, 
that  I  have  no  option  left  me  as  to  the  course  I  must  pursue.  With- 
out pretending  to  controvert  the  arguments  which  you  furnish  me, 
and  with  my  high  respect  for  the  eminent  source  from  which  it  is 
derived,  I  beg  leave  to  say  that,  according  to  my  conception  of  duty, 
my  powers,  as  an  executive  officer,  are  absolutely  bound  by  the  judi- 
cial decisions  of  the  vState  courts  ;  that  it  is  not  competent  for  me  to 
review  them.  And  in  the  absence  of  a  court  having  a  superior  and 
appellant  jurisdiction  deciding  to  the  contrary,  that  they  are  and 
must  of  necessity  be  to  me  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  of  this,  it  seems  to  me,  let  the  argument  go  as  it  may. 
Having  stated  the  plain  path  of  duty  which  I  am  bound  to  pursue,  I 
desire,  nevertheless,  to  assure  you  of  the  great  concern  I  feel  in  the 
issue,  and  of  my  earnest  wish  to  assist  the  War  Department  in  main- 
taining the  efficiency  of  our  armies  and  of  avoiding  conflict  with  the 
local  authorities.  To  this  end  I  shall  endeavor  to  get  an  authorita- 
tive decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State,  now  in  session  in  this 
city,  in  regard  to  the  question  of  jurisdiction  involved  ;  and  whilst 
declining  to  admit  that  the  construction  of  an  executive  bureau  must 
take  precedence  of  the  decisions  of  the  supreme  judicial  tribunals  of 
a  State,  in  the  matter  touching  the  liberty  of  a  citizen,  I  yet  would 
gladly  receive  any  suggestions  as  to  the  means  of  avoiding  such  alter- 
native, and  of  settling  the  difficulty  temporarily  or  permanently. 

I  shall  take  an  early  opportunity  of  communicating  with  you 
again  on  this  subject. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 

Raleigh,  May  23d,  1863. 
Honorable  James  A.  Seddoft,  Secretary  of  War  : 

Sir  :  Among  the  many  persons  illegally  arrested  in  Cherokee 
county.  North  Carolina,  by  order  of  Colonel  Lee,  at  Atlanta,  Georgia, 
on  charges  of  disloyalty,  were  G.  L.  D.  McLelland  and  James  M. 
Grant,  both  beyond  the  age  of  forty  years.  Nothing  appearing  against 
them  they  were  told  that  if  they  did  not  volunteer  in  the  army  they 
should  be  placed  in  prison  and  kept  there.  From  the  utterly  out- 
rageous and  illegal  manner  in  which  they  were  seized  and  carried 
away  from  their  homes,  they  were  justifiable  in  supposing  that  there 
was  no  longer  any  protection  in  the  country  for  the  personal  liberty  of 
the  citizens,  and  they  yielded  to  this  tyranny  and  entered  Colonel 
Folk's  battalion  in  East  Tennessee.  They  have  asked  for  their  dis- 
charge, on  the  ground  that  they  were  not  subject  to  conscription,  and 
were  forced  to  enter  the  army  under  threats  of  imprisonment.  Fair- 
ness, justice  and  self-respect  on  the  part  of  the  government  demand  it 
should  be  granted,  as  it  is  certainly  not  intended  to  recruit  the  army 
•by  entrapping  the  citizens. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 


84  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

The  late  Governor  Fowle,  in  a  speech  delivered  in 
Raleigh  on  June  29th,  1876,  said  "  dnring  the  war  a  nnm- 
ber  of  citizens  had  been  discharged  from  custody  of 
Confederate  officers  on  habeas  corpus  proceedings  by 
judges,  and  had  been  again  arrested  by  the  military  officers 
of  the  Confederate  government,  upon  the  idea  that  might 
made  right  and  armed  men  dictated  law,  North  and  South. 
There  was  one  man  in  power  who  even  amid  the  angry 
clash  of  arms  remembered  the  lessons  of  liberty  taught 
by  the  lamented  Swain  and  the  early  fathers,  and  dared  to 
maintain  them.  That  man  was  Zebulon  B.  Vance.  In 
defiance  of  the  military  power,  he  issued  an  order  com- 
manding the  whole  militia  force  of  the  State  to  resist  the 
arrest  of  any  citizen  of  the  State  who  had  been  discharged 
by  the  courts  or  judges.     That  order  was  as  follows  :" 

Executive  Department  of  North  Carolina, 

Adjutant  General's  Office,  Raleigh,  May  26th,  1863. 
General  Order  No.  9.  Militia  officers  are  ordered  not  to  arrest 
any  man  as  a  conscript  or  deserter  who  may  have  been  discharged  bj' 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  tried  before  any  judge  of  the  Superior  or  Su- 
preme Court  of  this  State.  They  are  further  ordered  to  resist  any 
such  arrest  upon  the  part  of  any  person  not  authorized  by  the  legal 
process  of  a  court  having  jurisdiction  in  such  cases. 

By  order  of  the  Governor.  DANIEL  G.  FOWLE, 

Adjutant  General. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 

Raleigh,  July  6th,  1863. 
His  Excellency  Presidejit  Davis  : 

Dear  Sir  :  A  great  deal  of  harm  has  been  done,  and  much  dis- 
satisfaction excited  by  the  appointment  of  citizens  of  other  States  to 
offices  and  positions  here  that  should  of  right  be  filled  by  our  own 
people. 

The  last  appointment  by  the  Quartermaster  General  of  a  Colonel 
Bradford,  of  Norfolk,  Virginia,  to  the  Chief  Collectorship  of  the  tax 
in  kind  for  this  State,  has  given  almost  universal  offense,  and  I  may 
be  excused  for  saying  very  justly.  No  objection  that  I  am  aware  of  is 
made  to  him  except  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  another  State,  and  we  all 
feel  that  the  offices  so  purely  local  as  this,  we  have  a  right  to  demand, 
should  be  bestowed  upon  our  own  people. 

I  feel  it  my  duty,  out  of  respect  to  my  State  and  people,  as  well  as 
to  remove  any  cause  so  far  as  may  be,  for  dissatisfaction,  to  bring  this 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  85 

matter  to  your  attention,  and  ask  that  you  make  a  different  appoint- 
ment. Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 

St.\te  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 

Rai^eigh,  July  6tli,  1863. 
His  Excellency  President  Davis  : 

Dear  Sir  :  Last  week  the  steamer  "  Advance,"  purchased  by  this 
State  in  Europe,  arrived  at  Wilmington  with  cargo  of  soldiers'  cloth- 
ing. I  went  down  to  visit  her,  and  before  going  on  board,  I  obtained 
the  permission  of  the  commissioners  of  navigation  and  the  military 
authorities  (she  being  below  town  on  a  sand  bar)  in  compliance  with 
quarantine  regulations.  On  returning  to  the  wharf  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Thornburg,  who  was  in  command  of  the  town,  refused  to  permit  me  to 
land,  alleging  that  the  regulations  were  violated.  Upon  showing  him 
the  permission  of  the  commissioner,  and  assuring  him  of  the  assent  of 
General  Whiting,  and  remonstrating  with  him  in  person,  he  replied 
that  he  "did  not  care  for  Governor  Vance  nor  Governor  Jesus  Christ," 
that  I  "should  not  come  off  that  boat  for  fifteen  days,"  and  accord- 
ingly placed  a  guard  on  the  wharf  with  orders  to  shoot  any  one 
attempting  to  get  off.  I  was  so  detained  until  the  chairman  of  the 
board  of  commissioners  came  to  my  relief,  and  lost  the  train  for 
Raleigh.  Having  thus  deliberately,  wilfully  and  without  excuse, 
inflicted  a  gross  insult  upon  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  through 
her  Chief  Magistrate,  in  their  name  I  demand  his  removal  from  the 
State,  and  that  he  be  no  more  placed  in  command  of  her  troops.  If  it 
be  deemed  indispensable  that  North  Carolina  soldiers  should  be  com- 
manded by  Virginians,  I  should  regret  to  see  the  Old  Dominion  retain 
all  her  gentlemen  for  her  own  use,  and  furnish  us  only  her  blackguards. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE.      ' 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  July  28th,  1863. 
Hon.  J.  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War,  Richmond,   Va. 

I  beg  leave  to  suggest  most  respectfully  the  propriety  of  your  for- 
bidding positively  the  officers  of  the  government  engaging  in  specula- 
tions on  private  account.  Many  of  them  have  been  engaged  in  it  here 
to  the  great  detriment  of  the  community  and  the  public  service. 

In  addition  to  the  temptation  it  offers  for  the  misapplication  of  the 
public  funds,  it  is  corrupting  in  its  tendencies,  assists  in  upholding 
prices,  and  excites  universal  prejudice  in  the  community.  It  should 
be  absolutely  prohibited,  in  my  opinion.     Pardon  me. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

Raleigh,  September  loth,  1863. 
President  Davis,  Richmond : 

A  Georgia  Regiment,  Benning's  Brigade,  entered  this  city  last 
night  at  10  o'clock  and  destroyed  the  office  of  the  Standard  newspaper. 


86  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

This  morning  a  mob  of  citizens  destroyed  the  office  of  the  State 
Journal,  in  retaliation.  Please  order  immediately  that  troops  passing 
through  here  shall  not  enter  the  city.  If  this  is  not  done  the  most 
frightful  consequences  may  ensue. 

Respectfully,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  September  nth,  1863. 
His  Excellency  Jefferson  Davis,  Richmond,   Va. 

My  Dear  Sir:  You  have  received  by  telegram  before  this,  in- 
formation of  the  riot  occurring  in  this  city.  It  will  enable  you  to  see 
what  a  mine  I  have  been  standing  on,  and  what  a  delicate  and  embar- 
rassing situation  mine  is.  I  am  now  trembling  to  see  its  effects  upon 
the  country,  though  I  am  greatly  in  hopes  that  the  mob  of  citizens 
which  destroyed  the  office  of  the  State  Journal  will  act  as  a  counter 
irritant,  and  help  to  allay  excitement,  the  damage  being  equal  to  both 
parties. 

But,  sir,  the  countrj-  is  in  a  dangerous  excitement  and  it  will 
require  the  utmost  skill  and  tact  to  guide  it  through  safely  and  honor- 
ably. I  beg  again  to  impress  you  with  the  importance  of  sustaining 
me  in  every  essential  particular  and  of  heeding  my  suggestions  about 
men  and  things  in  North  Carolina,  'concerning  which  I  spoke  to  you 
in  Richmond. 

The  soldiers  who  originated  the  mob  belonged  to  Benning's  Brig- 
ade and  were  led  by  their  officers,  several  of  whom  I  saw  in  the  crowd, 
but  heard  none  of  their  names,  except  a  Major  Shepherd.  I  have  also 
reasons  for  believing  it  was  done  with  a  knowledge  and  consent  of 
General  Benning,  as  he  remarked  to  a  gentleman  an  hour  or  two  pre- 
vious, that  his  men  had  threatened  it.  During  its  continuance  he 
could  not  be  found,  a  messenger  sent  by  me  to  his  supposed  quarters 
at  the  depot  was  refused  admission  to  him,  and  although  he  had  ample 
opportunity  after  the  occurrence  to  have  seen  or  written  to  me  dis- 
claiming this  outrage  upon  the  honor  and  peace  of  North  Carolina,  he 
did  not  do  so. 

As  it  is  my  intention  to  enforce  the  laws  rigidly  against  all  citizens 
who  participated  in  the  second  mob,  so  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  demand 
that  punishment  may  be  inflicted  on  the  officers  who  assisted  or  coun- 
tenanced the  first.  Should  this  not  be  done,  I  shall  feel  it  my  duty  to 
demand  the  persons  of  these  officers  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  to  answer 
the  demands  of  justice. 

I  feel  very  sad  in  the  contemplation  of  these  outrages.  The  dis- 
tance is  quite  short  to  either  anarchy  or  despotism,  when  armed 
soldiers,  led  by  their  officers,  can  with  impunity  outrage  the  laws  of  a 
State.  A  few  more  such  exhibitions  will  bring  the  North  Carolina 
troops  home  to  the  defense  of  their  own  State  and  her  institutions.  I 
pray  you  to  see  that  it  does  not  occur  again.  Should  any  newspaper 
in  the  State  commit  treason,  I  would  have  its  editor  arrested,  and 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  87 

tried  by  tlie  laws  which  many  of  us  yet  respect.  I  thank  you  for  your 
prompt  order  by  telegraph  to  Major  Pierce,  concerning  the  passage  of 
troops  through  this  city.  They  are  now  being  enforced  and  peace  can 
be  preserved  if  they  are  rigidly  obeyed. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

Confederate  States  oe  America,  Executive  Department, 
Richmond,  Va.,  September  15th,  1S63. 
Governor  Z.  B.   Vance,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Your  two  communications  of  the  nth  instant 
have  been  received.  Upon  the  receipt  of  your  telegram  informing  me 
that  the  measures  taken  to  put  an  end  to  the  disturbances  in  Ral- 
eigh had  not  proven  effective,  orders  were  issued  which  it  is  hoped 
will  be  sufHcient  to  prevent  further  disorders. 

I  have  referred  to  the  Secretary  of  War  your  statement  respecting 
particular  officers  alleged  to  have  been  concerned  in  the  riot,  and  the 
matter  will  receive  prompt  attention. 

Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours,        JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  December  21st,  1863. 
Hon.  Jas.  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War  : 

Dear  Sir  :  I  desire  to  call  your  attention  to  an  evil  which  is 
inflicting  great  distress  upon  the  people  of  this  State,  and  contributing 
largely  to  the  public  discontent.  I  allude  to  illegal  seizures  of  property 
and  other  depredations  of  an  outrageous  character  by  detached  bands 
of  troops — chiefly  cavalry.  The  department,  I  am  sure,  can  have  no 
idea  of  the  extent  and  character  of  this  evil.  It  is  enough  in  many 
cases  to  breed  a  rebellion  in  a  loyal  county  against  the  Confederacy, 
and  has  actually  been  the  cause  of  much  alienation  of  feeling  in  many 
parts  of  North  Carolina.  It  is  not  my  purpose  now  to  give  instances 
and  call  for  punishment  of  the  offenders — that  I  do  to  their  command- 
ing officers,  but  to  ask  if  some  order  or  regulation  cannot  be  made  for 
the  government  of  troops  on  detached  service,  the  severe  and  un- 
flinching execution  of  which  might  not  check  this  stealing,  pilfering, 
burning,  and  sometimes  murderous  conduct. 

I  give  you  my  word  that  in  North  Carolina  it  has  become  a  griev- 
ance, intolerable,  damnable,  and  not  to  be  borne  !  If  God  Almighty 
had  yet  in  store  another  plague — worse  than  all  others  which  he 
intended  to  have  let  loose  on  the  Egyptians  in  case  Pharaoh  still 
hardened  his  heart,  I  am  sure  it  must  have  been  a  regiment  or  so  of 
half  armed,  half  disciplined  Confederate  cavalry  !  Had  they  been 
turned  loose  on  Pharoah's  subjects  with  or  without  an  impressment 
law,  he  would  have  become  so  sensible  of  the  anger  of  God,  that  he 
never  would  have  followed  the  children  of  Israel  to  the  Red  Sea.  No, 
sir,  not  an  inch  !  !  Cannot  officers  be  reduced  to  the  ranks  for  per- 
mitting  this  ?     Cannot   a   few   men   be  shot   for    perpetrating   these 


88  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

outrages,  as  an  example  ?     Unless  something  can  be  done,  I  shall  be 
compelled  in  some  sections  to  call  out  my  militia  and  levy  actual   war 
against  them.     I  beg  your  early  and  earnest  attention  to  this  matter. 
Very  respectfully  yours,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  December  30th,  1863. 
His  Excellency  President  Davis  : 

My  Dear  Sir  :  After  a  careful  consideration  of  all  the  sources  of 
discontent  in  North  Carolina,  I  have  concluded  that  it  will  be  perhaps 
impossible  to  remove  it  except  by  making  some  effort  at  negotiation 
with  the  enemy.  The  recent  action  of  the  Federal  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, though  meaning  very  little,  has  greatly  excited  the  public 
hope  that  the  Northern  mind  is  looking  towards  peace.  I  am  promised 
by  all  men  who  advocate  this  course  that  if  fair  terms  are  rejected  it 
will  tend  greatly  to  strengthen  and  intensify  the  war  feeling,  and  will 
rally  all  classes  to  a  more  cordial  support  of  the  government.  And, 
although  our  position  is  well  known,  as  demanding  only  to  be  let  alone, 
yet  it  seems  to  me  that  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  without  having  any 
weak  or  improper  motives  attributed  to  us,  we  might  with  propriety 
constantly  tender  negotiations.  In  doing  so  we  would  keep  con- 
spicuously before  the  world  a  disclaimer  of  our  responsibility  for  the 
great  slaughter  of  our  race,  and  convince  the  humblest  of  our  citizens 

who  sometimes  forget  the  actual  situation — that  the  government  is 

tender  of  their  lives  and  happiness,  and  would  not  prolong  their  suffer- 
ings unnecessarily  one  moment.  Though  statesmen  might  regard 
this  as  useless,  the  people  will  not,  and  I  think  our  cause  will  be 
strengthened  thereby.  I  have  not  suggested  the  method  of  these  negotia- 
tions or  their  terms,  the  effort  to  obtain  peace  is  the  principal  matter. 

Allow  me  to  beg  your  earnest  consideration  of  this  suggestion. 
Very  respectfully  yours,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  December  31st,  1863. 
Honorable  James  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War,  Richmond,  Va. 

DEAR  Sir  :  I  learn  that  large  distilleries  are  in  operation  at 
Charlotte  and  Salisbury  in  this  State,  making  spirits  of  the  tithe  grain 
by  order  of  the  War  Department.  Upon  application  to  the  office  of 
Mai.  Badham,  chief  collector  of  tithe  for  this  State,  I  learn  that  he  has 
orders  to  deliver  30,000  bushels  of  grain  to  the  distilleries  for  this 
purpose.  In  addition  to  the  many  and  weighty  reasons  which  could 
be  urged  against  the  abstraction  of  this  much  bread  from  the  army  of 
the  poor,  I  beg  to  inform  you  that  the  laws  of  this  State  positively 
forbid  the  distillation  of  any  kind  of  grain  within  its  borders  under 
heavy  penalties.  It  will,  therefore,  be  my  duty  to  interpose  the  arm 
of  civil  law  to  prevent  and  punish  this  violation  thereof,  unless  you 
will  order  it  to  cease.   It  seems  to  me  if  spirits  arc  so  absolutely  requisite 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  89 

to  the  Medical  Department,  that  strain  sufficient  mi^ht  be  found  in  re- 
mote and  plentiful  districts,  and  leave  for  the  use  of  the  people  every 
grain  which  is  accessible.  Be  this  as  it  may,  I  am  sure  you  will  ao-ree 
with  me  in  saying  that  no  person  can  under  authority  of  the  Confed- 
erate Government  violate  State  laws  with  impunity. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  January  7th,  1864. 
Honorable  James  A.  Seddon: 

Dear  Sir  :     Your  dispatch  of  the  6th   asking  me  not  to  object  to 
making  the  steamer  "Don"  conform  to  the  regulations  of  the  Con- 
federate authorities  in  regard    to    transporting   government   cotton 
requires  a  more  detailed  reply  than  I  can  transmit  by  telegraph. 

I  have  now  at  Bermuda  and  on  the  way  there  eight  or  ten  cargoes 
of  supplies  of  the  first  importance  to  the  army  and  the  people,  con- 
sisting chiefly  of  some  40,000  blankets,  40,000  pairs  of  shoes,  large 
quantities  of  army  cloth,  leather,  112,000  pairs  of  cotton  cards,  ma- 
chinery and  findings  to  refit  twenty-six  of  our  principal  cotton  and 
wollen  factories,  dye  stuffs,  lubricating  oils,  etc.  In  addition  to  which 
I  have  made  large  purchases  of  bacon.  Knowing  that  our  steamer 
could  not  bring  these  cargoes  in  before  spring,  at  which  time  I  antici- 
pate the  closing  of  the  port,  if  not  sooner,  and  that  the  risk  was 
increasing  daily,  I  sold  one-half  of  the  State's  steamer  "Advance" 
and  purchased  of  Messrs.  Collie  &  Co.  one-fourth  interest  in  four 
steamers,  the  "  Don  "  and  the  "  Hansa  "  and  two  others  now  building, 
for  the  purpose  of  hurrying  these  supplies  in.  The  terms  of  sale  give 
the  State  one-fourth  the  outward  cargo  and  the  whole  of  the  inward 
nothing  being  carried  for  speculators  whatever. 

The  "  Hansa,"  which  recently  left  Wilmington,  not  having  coal 
enough  to  take  her  to  Bermuda,  where  my  freight  is,  was  instructed 
to  load  at  Nassau  with  Confederate  bacon,  so  determined  am  I,  that 
the  whole  capacity  of  these  steamers  should  be  employed  for  the  public 
good.  In  return  for  this  Messrs.  Collie  &  Co.  did  expect  they  would 
be  relieved  from  the  burden  of  giving  one-third  of  her  outward  capacity 
to  the  Confederate  Government  and  I  did  also.  Should  one-third  be 
given  to  the  Confederacy  and  one-fourth  to  the  State  outward  and  to 
the  latter  the  whole  of  the  return  cargo,  I  submit  that  it  would  amount 
to  a  prohibition  of  the  business;  neither  would  it  comport  with  justice 
or  sound  policy. 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  to  me,  that  the  entire  importing  operations 
of  this  State,  which  have  been  so  successful  and  so  beneficial  to  the 
cause,  seems  to  have  met  with  httle  else  than  downright  opposition 
rather  than  encouragement  from  the  Confederate  Government.  In  its 
very  inception,  Mr.  Mason,  our  commissioner  in  England  laid  the 
strong  hand  on  my  agents  and  positively  forbade  them  putting  a  bond 
on  the  market  for  five  months  after  they  landed  in  England.     Then 


90  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

came  vexatious  aud  irritating  quarantine  delays  at  ^Wilmington  (en- 
forced by  the  military,  not  the  civil  authorities)  ;  though  our  foreign 
depot  was  at  great  cost  and  inconvenience  made  at  Bermuda  instead 
of  Nassau  to  avoid  this.  Then  seizing  of  my  coal  at  Wilmington  oc- 
curred, and  denial  of  the  facilities  to  get  it  from  the  mines,  etc.  It 
was  not  until  after  my  decided  remonstrance  to  you  in  November,  that 
I  met  with  anything  else  than  an  evident  hostility  in  the  operations 
of  my  steamers. 

And  now  if  the  regulations  in  regard  to  private  blockade-runners 
are  enforced,  I  think  it  highly  probable  that  this  line  will  be  stopped 
entirely,  as  the  profits  will  scarcely  justify  the  risk.  A  great  deal  of 
this  I  am  aware  is  attributable  to  the  want  of  discretion  on  the  part  of 
subordinate  officers,  as  well  as  the  want  of  foresight  displayed  in  the 
oppression  of  every  industrial  interest  of  the  country  by  army  officers. 
Yet  I  have  had  it  to  contend  with.  After  this  statement  I  leave  it 
with  you  to  say  whether  the  regulations  referred  to  shall  be  inforced. 
If  they  are  I  shall  certainly  countermand  the  sailing  of  the  two  other 
steamers  now  expected,  and  would  suggest  for  the  benefit  of  the  De- 
partment that  it  would  be  much  better  io  purchase  than  to  seize  an 
interest  in  the  property  of  strangers  who  are  engaged  in  bringing  us 
indispensable  supplies  through  a  most  rigorous  and  dangerous  block- 
ade. Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  January  20th,  1864. 
His  Excellency  Horatio  Seymour,  Governor  of  New   York  : 

Sir  :  There  are  quite  a  number  of  the  soldiers  of  this  State,  prison- 
ers of  war  in  the  United  States,  confined  principally  within  your  State. 
I  learn  that  they  are  suffering  greatly  for  want  of  winter  clothing  and 
that  the  regulations  of  your  Government  do  not  forbid  their  purchas- 
ing if  they  had  the  means.  Presviming  upon  your  known  humanity, 
I  have  ventured  to  enclose  to  you  by  flag  of  truce  three  sterling  bills 
of  exchange  drawn  by  Theo.  Andreae  upon  Messrs.  A.  Collie  &  Co., 
17  Leadenhall  street,  London,  amounting  to  ;^i20o  (twelve  hundred 
pounds  sterling)  which  I  desire  you  will  have  expended  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  most  necessary  clothing  for  the  prisoners  of  war  from 
North  Carolina  in  whatever  prison  confined.  I  presume  at  the  quoted 
rates  of  exchange  the  bills  will  produce  near  nine  thousand  dollars. 
In  venturing  to  ask  you  to  take  so  much  trouble  upon  your  hands,  I 
feel  sure  that  the  suggestion  of  humanity  and  the  common  courtesy 
existing  between  honest  enemies  will  be  a  sufficient  apology.  I  can 
but  hope  that  you  will  not  hesitate  to  allow  me  an  opportunity  of  re- 
ciprocating your  kindness  should  it  become  possible  for  me  to  do  so. 
I  am,  sir,  with  proper  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  9I 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  February  9th,  1864. 
His  Excellency  Jefferso7i  Davis  : 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Since  receiving  your  letter  of  the  Sth  ultimo,  to 
whicli  it  was  my  intention  to  have  replied  before  this,  reports  have 
reached  me  from  Richmond,  which  if  true,  would  render  my  reply 
unnecessary.  I  hear  with  deep  regret  that  a  bill  is  certainly  expected 
to  pass  the  Congress  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  throughout 
the  Confederacy,  and  that  certain  arrests  will  immediately  be  made  in 
North  Carolina.  Of  course,  if  Congress  and  your  Excellency  be  re- 
solved upon  this,  as  the  only  means  of  repressing  dissatisfaction  in 
this  State,  it  would  be  a  mere  waste  of  time  for  me  to  argue  the 
matter.  And  yet  I  should  not  hold  myself  guiltless  of  the  consequences 
which  I  fear  will  follow  did  I  not  add  yet  another  word  of  expostula- 
tion to  the  many  which  I  have  already  spoken.  If  the  bill  referred 
to,  about  which  I  can  form  no  opinion  until  I  see  it,  be  strictly  within 
the  limits  of  the  Constitution,  I  imagine  the  people  of  this  State  will 
submit  to  it,  so  great  is  their  regard  for  law.  If  it  be  adjudged,  on  the 
contrary,  to  be  in  violation  of  that  instrument  and  revolutionary  in 
itself,  it  will  be  resisted.  Should  it  become  a  law  soon,  I  earnestly 
advise  you  to  be  chary  of  exercising  the  power  with  which  it  will  in- 
vest 5'ou.  Be  certain  to  try  at  least  for  a  while  the  moral  effect  of 
holding  this  power  over  the  heads  of  discontented  men  before  shock- 
ing all  worshippers  of  the  common  law  throughout  the  world  by 
hurling  freemen  into  sheriffless  dungeons  for  opinion  sake. 

I  do  not  speak  this  facetiously,  or  by  way  of  a  flourish,  nor  do  I 
believe  that  as  an  enlightened  lawyer  and  a  Christian  statesman  you 
could  feel  any  pleasure  in  the  performance  of  such  an  ungracious 
task.  I  am,  on  the  contrary,  convinced  that  you  believe  it  to  be  the 
only  way  to  secure  North  Carolina  in  the  performance  of  her  obliga- 
tions to  her  confederates.  The  misfortune  of  this  belief  is  yours  ;  the 
shame  will  light  upon  those  unworthy  sons  who  have  thus  sought  to 
stab  their  mother  because  she  cast  them  off.  If  our  citizens  are  left 
untouched  by  the  arm  of  military  violence,  I  do  not  despair  of  an  ap- 
peal to  the  reason  and  patriotism  of  the  people  at  the  ballot  box. 
Hundreds  of  good  and  true  men,  now  acting  with  and  possessing  the 
confidence  of  the  party  called  conservatives,  are  at  work  against  the 
dangerous  movements  for  a  Convention,  and  whilst  civil  law  remains 
intact  will  work  zealously  and  with  heart.  I  expect  myself  to  take 
the  field  as  soon  as  the  proprieties  of  my  position  will  allow  me,  and 
shall  exert  every  effort  to  restrain  the  revolutionary  tendency  of 
public  opinion.  Never  yet,  sir,  have  the  people  of  North  Carolina  re- 
fused to  listen  to  their  public  men  if  they  show  right  and  reason  on 
their  side.  I  do  not  fear  to  trust  the  issue  now  to  these  potent 
weapons  in  the  hands  of  such  men  as  will  wield  them  next  summer. 
I  do  fear  to  trust  bayonets  and  dungeons.     I  endeavored  soon  after 


92  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

rn}'  accession  to  the  Chief  Magistrac}-  of  North  Carolina  to  make  you 
aware  of  both  the  fqct  of  disaffection, in  this  State  and  the  cause  of  it. 
In  addition  to  the  man)-  letters  to  you,  I  have  twice  visited  Richmond 
expressly  to  give  you  information  on  this  point.  The  truth  is,  as  I 
have  often  said  before,  that  the  great  body  of  our  people  have  been 
suspected  by  their  government,  perhaps  because  of  the  reluctance 
with  which  they  gave  up  the  old  Union,  and  I  know  you  will  pardon 
me  for  saying  that  this  consciousness  of  their  being  suspected  has 
been  greatly  strengthened  by  what  seemed  to  be  a  studied  exclusion 
of  the  anti-secessionists  from  all  the  more  important  offices  of  the 
government,  even  from  those  promotions  in  the  army  which  many  of 
them  had  won  with  their  blood.  Was  this  suspicion  just  ?  and  was 
there  sufficient  effort  made  to  disprove  that  it  existed,  if  it  really  did 
not  exist,  at  Richmond?  Discussion,  it  is  true,  has  been  unlimited 
and  bitter,  and  unrelenting  criticism  upon  your  administration  had 
been  indulged  in,  but  where  and  when  have  our  people  failed  you  in 
the  battle,  or  withheld  either  their  blood  or  their  vast  resources  ?  To 
what  exaction  have  they  not  submitted,  what  draft  upon  their  patriot- 
ism have  they  yet  dishonored  ?  Conscription,  ruthless  and  unrelenting, 
has  only  been  exceeded  in  the  severity  of  its  execution  by  the  impress- 
ment of  propert)^  frequently  entrusted  to  men  unprincipled,  dishonest 
and  filled  to  overflowing  with  all  the  petty  meanness  of  small  minds 
dressed  in  a  little  brief  authority.  The  files  of  my  office  are  filled 
with  the  unavailing  complaints  of  outraged  citizens  to  whom  redress 
is  impossible.  Yet  they  have  submitted,  and  so  far  performed  with 
honor  their  duty  to  their  country,  though  the  voice  of  these  very 
natural  mumurers  is  set  down  to  disloyalty.  I  do  not  hold  you  respon- 
sible for  all  the  petty  annoyances,  "  insolence  of  office,"  under  which 
our  people  lose  heart  and  patience  ;  even  if  I  did,  I  cannot  forget  that 
it  is  my  country  that  I  am  serving,  not  the  rulers  of  that  country.  I 
make  no  threats.  I  desire  only  with  singleness  of  purpose  and  sin- 
cerity of  heart  to  speak  those  words  of  soberness  and  truth  which  may, 
with  the  blessings  of  God,  best  subserve  the  cause  of  my  suffering  coun- 
try. Those  words  I  now  believe  to  be  the  advice  herein  given  to  refrain 
from  exercising  the  extraordinary  power  about  to  be  given  you  by  the 
Congress,  at  least,  until  the  last  hope  of  moral  influence  being  suffi- 
cient, is  extinct.  Though  you  express  a  fear  in  your  last  letter  that 
my  continued  efforts  to  conciliate  were  injudicious,  I  cannot  yet  see 
just  cause  for  abandoning  them.  Perhaps  I  am  unduly  biased  in  my 
judgment  concerning  a  people  whom  I  love  and  to  whom  I  owe  so 
much.  Though  I  trust  not.  Our  success  depends  not  on  the  numbers 
engaged  to  support  our  cause,  but  upon  their  zeal  and  affection.  Hence 
I  have  every  hope  in  persuading,  not  one  \\\  forcing,  the  sympathies  of 
an  unwilling  people. 

The  Legislature  of  this  State  meets  next  May.     Two-thirds  are 
required  by  our  Constitution  to  call  a  Convention.     This  number  can- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  93 

not  be  obtained  ;  a  bare  majority  vote  for  submitting  the  proposition 
will,  in  my  opinion,  be  impossible.  Under  no  circumstances  can  a  con- 
vention be  assembled  in  North  Carolina  during  the  present  year,  in 
my  judgment,  and  during  next  summer  the  approaching  State  elec- 
tions will  afford  an  opportunity  for  a  full  and  complete  discussion  of 
all  the  issues  ;  the  result  of  which  I  do  not  fear  if  left  to  ourselves.  If 
there  be  a  people  on  earth  given  to  the  sober  second  thought,  amen- 
able to  reason  and  regardful  of  their  plighted  honor,  I  believe  that  I 
may  claim  that  it  is  the  people  of  North  Carolina. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  April  19th,  1864. 
Hon  James  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  War : 

Dear  Sir  :  I  bring  to  your  attention  the  case  of  David  Mahale}"-, 
a  private  in  Company  F,  Fifty-Seventh  Regiment  North  Carolina 
Troops.  Mr.  Mahaley  was  discharged  by  Judge  Pearson  at  Salisbury 
on  the  22d  of  February  last,  under  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  his  is 
one  of  those  cases  referred  to  in  your  letter  to  me,  as  being  permitted 
by  the  government  to  be  discharged  until  the  Supreme  Court  of  North 
Carolina  shall  decide  the  case.  There  is  no  difference  in  Mahaley's 
case  and  all  the  others  then  discharged.  Enclosed  is  a  statement  from 
Governor  Bragg  that  Mahaley  ought  to  be  returned.  Under  this  state 
of  facts,  I  respectfully  demand  the  immediate  discharge  of  David 
Mahaley.  David  Mahaley  was  arrested  in  defiance  of  this  discharge 
and  in  opposition  to  your  letter  to  me  on  this  subject. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servanl,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department, 
Raleigh,  December  6th,  1864. 
Ho7iorable  Javies  A.  Seddon,  Secretary  of  U  ar,  Ric/unojid,  Va. 

I  have  to  call  your  attention  again  to  a  violation  of  the  rights  of 
citizens  of  this  State  in  their  arbitrary  arrest  by  the  military  and  trans- 
portation beyond  the  State  for  impressment.  Henry  P.  Retter,  late  a 
Surgeon  in  the  Eighth  North  Carolina  Troops,  and  a  citizen  of  Cam- 
den county,  N.  C.  ,was  arrested  a  few  days  since  by  Colonel  Gillead, 
commanding  at  Weldon,  on  suspicion  of  disloyalty  and  sent  to  Rich- 
mond for  incarceration.  Without  entering  at  all  into  the  question  of 
his  guilt  or  innocence,  I  think  I  am  clear  in  saying  that  such  removal 
beyond  the  limits  of  this  State  is  an  infraction  of  his  legal  rights,  and 
an  infringement  of  the  jurisdiction  of  North  Carolina.  In  a  letter  ad- 
dressed by  yourself  to  me  in  January,  1863,  responding  to  the  demand 
of  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  for  the  return  of  one  I.  R. 
Graves,  then  held  in  Richmond  on  a  charge  of  disloyalty,  you  admit- 
ted fully  the  impropriety  and  illegality  of  arresting  a  citizen  of  this 
State  and  transporting  him  to  Virginia.  In  speaking  of  the  reasons 
in  possession  of  the  Department  for  supposing  the  said  Graves  a  spy 


94  WFE   OF  VANCE. 

you  say  :  "As  such  (that  is  a  citizen  of  North  Caroliiia)  while  amen- 
able to  arrest  as  a  spy  on  sufficient  grounds,  or  even  as  a  traitor,  he 
could  with  no  proprietj'  or  legality  be  removed  from  the  State,  but 
should  be  handed  over  to  the  appropriate  ci\'il  or  military  in  that 
State  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law;"  and  again,  "  that  there  can 
be  neither  prudence  or  justification  for  not  promptly  admitting  the 
error  committed  by  his  removal  and  rectifying  it  by  his  immediate 
return  and  delivery  under  your  Excellency's  demand."  Extremely 
gratified  as  I  was  at  this  prompt  and  full  concession  of  the  rights  of 
North  Carolina's  citizens — I  have  been  constantly  pained  and  irritated 
by  an  almost  weekly  repetition  of  the  offence  until  it  has  become  no 
longer  tolerable.  I  have  therefore  respectfully  to  demand  that  the 
said  Henry  P.  Retter  be  returned  to  the  jurisdiction  of  North  Carolina 
to  be  dealt  with  by  due  course  of  law,  and  to  request  that  you  will 
cause  such  orders  to  be  issued  to  military  commanders  in  North  Caro- 
lina as  will  in  future  prevent  siich  arbitrary  and  illegal  proceedings, 
so  well  calculated  to  disturb  that  harmony  which  should  exist  be- 
tween the  two  governments.     I  am,  sir, 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 

The  followinor  incident,  taken  from  a  contemporary  news- 
paper, but  fully  vouched  for,  shows  the  extreme  kindness 
of  heart  of  the  young  Governor : 

During  the  war  Isaac  Rogers,  of  Wake,  was  appointed  on  a  com- 
mittee to  issue  provisions  to  the  needy  families  of  Confederate  soldiers. 
An  order  of  the  magistrate  prohibited  the  issuing  of  provisions  to  the 
wives  and  families  of  deserters.  A  Mrs.  Thompson,  wife  of  a  deserter, 
applied  for  food.  She  was  refused  under  the  order,  but  told  to  see 
Governor  Vance.  Mrs.  Thompson  called  on  Governor  Vance  and 
represented  her  case,  stated  that  her  husband  was  a  deserter,  and  so- 
licited aid.  Governor  Vance  gave  her  a  letter  to  Mr.  Rogers,  requesting 
and  instructing  him  to  furnish  Mrs.  Thompson  whatever  supplies  she 
required.  When  the  Governor  next  saw  Mr.  Rogers  he  told  him  he  had 
no  authority  of  law  for  the  order  he  had  given  him,  but  the  woman  was 
in  distress  ;  that  her  husband  being  a  deserter  neither  altered  that  fact 
nor  abrogated  the  laws  of  humanity  ;  that  the  sins  of  the  husband  and 
father  ought  not  to  be  visited  on  the  wife  and  children,  and  if  harm 
should  come  of  the  matter  he,  Vance,  assumed  the  responsibility  and 
would  stand  between  Mr.  Rogers  and  all  harm  in  the  premises. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  95 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

HIS  ARREST  AND  IMPRISONMENT. 

On  His  Tliirty-Fifth  Anniversary  He  Was  Arrested  at  His  Home  in 
Statesville  and  Carried  Under  Guard  to  Salisbury — Incidents  of 
the  Trip — Anecdotes — Stops  in  Salisbury — Release  of  the  Prisoner 
on  His  Parole  of  Honor  to  Report  Next  Morning — Carried  Thence 
by  Train  to  Washington,  D.  C,  and  There  Confined  in  the  Old 
Capitol  Prison  in  the  Same  Cell  With  Governor  Letcher,  of  Vir- 
ginia— Incidents — Prison  Life — ^Jokes — Copies  of  Official  Orders 
from  President  Johnson,  General  Grant  and  Others — Final  Re- 
lease on  Parole  and  Confinement  to  the  State  of  North  Carolina 
as  His  Prison  Bounds. 

''JYl  S  soon  as  the  surrender  was  accomplished  and  the 
^711  State  was  taken  in  charge  by  the  military  power  of 
the  United  States,  Governor  Vance  took  up  his  residence 
temporarily  in  Statesville.  His  family  consisted  of  his  wife 
and  four  sons,  the  eldest  nine  years  old  and  the  youngest  three. 
They  occupied  a  house  on  West  Main  street,  near  the  Col- 
lege. There  on  May  13,  1865,  which  was  his  thirty-fifth 
anniversary,  his  house  was  surrounded  early  in  the  fore- 
noon by  a  squadron  of  cavalry  from  Kilpatrick's  command, 
and  an  order  of  arrest  from  the  Secretary  of  War  at  Wash- 
ton  was  served  on  him  while  in  his  home  with  his  wife 
and  children  and  without  the  slightest  previous  notice.  By 
arrangement  with  the  officer  in  command  it  was  agreed 
that  they  should  leave  the  following  morning.  The  ques- 
tion of  transportation  arose.  The  railroad  .trains  were  not 
running  and  the  squadron  had  only  pack-horses.  In  the 
light  of  recent  experiences  the  citizens  were  unwilling  to 
entrust  their  vehicles  and  horses  (what  few  were  left)  to 
the  keeping  of  the  Federal  cavalry.  But  the  difiiculty  was 
soon  relieved  by  the  generous  offer  of  Mr.  Samuel  Witt- 
kowsky,  a  citizen  of  the  town,  who  tendered  his  own  con- 


96  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

veyance  and  his  own  services  to  drive  it  and  the  Governor 
to  Salisbury.  Mr.  Wittkowsky,  in  a  recent  address  before 
the  Historical  Society  of  Charlotte,  gave  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  trip  : 

We  started  next  morning  at  about  9  o'clock  in  the  following 
order  :  Four  men  on  each  side  of  the  buggy  and  the  rest  of  the  com- 
mand divided  in  front  and  rear.  Governor  Vance  was  for  a  moment 
overcome  and  shed  tears  while  we  drove  along  in  silence  until  about 
the  edge  of  the  town,  when  he  turned  to  me,  while  wiping  his  eyes, 
and  said  :  "  This  will  not  do  ;  I  must  not  allow  my  feelings  to  unman 
me,  but  it  is  so  hard  to  bear.  I  am  not  so  much  concerned  about 
what  may  be  in  store  for  me,  but  my  poor  wife  and  little  children — 
they  have  not  a  cent  of  money  to  live  on.  And  then  poor  old  North 
Carolina.  God  knows  what  indignities  she  may  yet  be  subjected  to. 
Many  a  man  in  my  position,  having  ships  constantly  running  the 
blockade,  would  have  feathered  his  nest  by  shipping  cotton  to  Europe 
and  placing  the  proceeds  to  his  credit,  and  in  fact,  I  was  frequently 
urged  to  do  so,  but  thank  God,  I  did  not  do  it.  My  hands  are  clean  and 
I  can  face  my  people  and  say  that  I  have  not  made  money  out  of  my  posi- 
tion." 

After  going  a  distance  of  12  or  15  miles  we  sat  down  by  a  spring 
and  had  lunch,  several  of  the  officers,  by  the  Governor's  invitation, 
shared  the  lunch  with  us.  By  this  time  the  Governor  had  recovered 
his  usual  spirits  and  began  to  tell  jokes  and  so  gained  on  the  soldiers 
that  they  nudged  each  other  and  said  :  "  Why  this  rebel  Governor  is 
quite  a  jolly  fellow."  After  riding  about  six  miles  on  horse  back  (just 
for  a  change  and  rest)  the  Governor  resumed  his  seat  in  the  buggy  and 
with  not  a  single  man  on  guard  we  drove  on  ahead  of  the  column  until 
within  a  mile  or  two  of  Salisbury  when  we  stopped  and  waited  for  the 
escort  to  come  up.  The  Governor  addressing  the  commanding  officer, 
said  :  "You  are  giving  me  a  good  opportunity  to  get  away."  To 
which  the  officer  replied  :  "Governor,  I  know  my  man. "  Such  was 
his  magnetism  over  men.  Starting  out  as  he  did,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  guards,  in  a  few  hours  he  had  gained  their  confidence  so  that 
they  trusted  him  to  go  alone  and  out  of  sight.  The  officer  in  command 
then  said  :  "  Governor,  we  are  nearing  Salisbury,  if  you  will  give  me 
your  word  of  honor  to  present  yourself  to-morrow  at  the  depot  in  time 
to  take  the  train,  I  will  not  subject  you  to  the  indignity  of  marching 
you  through  town  under  guard.  The  Governor  thanked  him,  and  so 
we  entered  Salisbury  and  drove  to  Colonel  Shober's  house.  The  Gov- 
ernor got  out  for  a  little  while  among  his  friends,  to  apprise  them  of 
his  arrest  and  to  consult  with  them,  and  also  to  borrow  a  little  money, 
as  he  had  none  at  all  (and  later  in  life,  when  speaking  of  the  trip,  he 
told  me  that  I65.00  was  all  he  could  raise).  The  next  morning  I  went 
to  the  depot  to  bid  him  good  bye  and  found  him  surrounded  by  quite 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  97 

a  number  of  Federal  officers,  all  as  jolly  as   if  the   Governor  and  they 
had  been  old  friends,  starting  on  a  pleasure  trip. 

The  distinguished  prisoner  was  taken  to  Raleigh,  and 
thence  to  Washington,  D.  C,  under  guard,  and  was  there 
incarcerated  in  the  Old  Capitol  Prison,  on  May  20th.  He 
was  there  kept  in  close  confinement  till  the  5th  day  of 
July  following,  when  he  was  released  on  parol. 

The  Old  Capitol  Prison  was  on  the  hill  northeast  of  the 
present  Capitol,  where  the  new  Congressional  Library 
building  is  located.  Not  a  vestige  of  it  remains.  The 
superintendent  of  the  prison  at  the  time  is  still  living  in 
Washington,  but  is  unable  to  recall  any  special  incidents 
of  the  imprisonment  except  that  Vance  and  John  Letcher, 
ex-Governor  of  Virginia,  were  assigned  to  the  same  cell. 
This  was  on  the  first  floor  of  the  building,  was  small  and 
contained  a  narrow  iron  bedstead  for  each  prisoner  and  a 
chair  apiece.  ]\'Ieals  were  sent  from  a  restaurant,  and 
were,  of  course,  paid  for  by  the  prisoners.  The  superin- 
tendent remembers  also  furnishing  occasional  supplies  of 
whiskey  and  brandy,  the  latter  being  Governor  Letcher's 
favorite  beverage. 

No  cause  was  assigned  for  Vance's  arrest.  A  diligent 
search  of  the  records  of  the  Old  Capitol  Prison  and  of  the 
War  Department  of  that  period  fails  to  disclose  any  inti- 
mation of  the  cause  of  his  arrest  and  imprisonment.  The 
order  for  his  arrest  and  the  order  for  his  release  are  alike 
silent.  Nothing  is  said  as  to  why  he  was  arrested  and 
nothing  is  said  as  to  why  he  was  discharged.  It  was  sug- 
gested to  the  writer  while  examining  the  records  of  the 
War  Department  that  the  order  of  arrest  was  probably 
given  by  Andrew  Johnson  to  settle  some  old  grudge  he  may 
have  had  against  Vance,  as  they  were  both  in  Congress  at 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  were  close  neighbors 
during  the  war  though  on  opposite  sides.  This  suggestion 
is  strengthened  by,  and  may  have  been  founded  upon,  the  fact 
that  the  order  of  arrest  came  directly  from  President  John- 


98  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

son.  But  when  it  is  remembered  that  nearly  or  quite  all  the 
other  Governors  of  Southern  States  at  the  close  of  the  war  were 
likewise  arrested  and  imprisoned  and  subsequently  released 
on  parole,  the  suggestion  loses  its  force.  Certain  it  is  that 
for  some  reason  a  radical  change  of  policy  took  place  after 
the  assassination  of  Lincoln  and  very  probably  because  of 
that  unfortunate  tragedy.  The  ofHcers  of  the  Federal  gov- 
ernment were  not  only  excited  and  exasperated  by  the 
event,  but  were  also  probably  left  in  doubt  as  to  the  tem- 
per and  purposes  of  the  Southern  leaders,  and  it  is  charitable 
to  assume  that  it  was  thought  the  public  peace  and  safety 
would  be  better  secured  by  imprisoning  the  Governors  of 
the  several  States  for  a  time,  and  thus  effectually  prevent 
the  further  prosecution  of  the  war  by  guerilla  parties  or 
otherwise.  As  evidence  of  this  sudden  and  radical  change 
of  policy,  whatever  the  cause.  General  Sherman  wrote  to 
Secretary  of  War  Stanton  from  Raleigh,  N.  C,  on  April 
15th,  1865,  saying:  "I  have  invited  Governor  Vance  to 
return  to  Raleigh  with  the  civil  officers  of  the  State.  I 
have  met  ex-Governor  Graham,  Mr.  Badger,  Moore,  Holden 
and  others,  all  of  whom  agree  that  the  war  is  over,  and 
that  the  States  of  the  South  must  resume  their  allegiance, 
subject  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Congress  and  that 
the  military  power  of  the  South  must  submit  to  the 
national  arms.  This  great  fact  admitted  and  the  way  to 
restoration  is  eas}^  I  have  invited  Vance  to  return  with  as- 
surance of  protection  and  safety." 

This  was  understood  to  be  Lincoln's  method  of  recon- 
struction. Unhappily  for  the  Southern  States  and  people, 
a  very  different  policy  was  adopted  shortly  after  his  death. 

The  following  certified  copies  of  records  of  the  War 
Department,  kindly  furnished  by  Col.  Ainsworth,  INIaj. 
Davis  and  other  officers  in  charge,  relate  to  the  arrest,  im- 
prisonment and  release  of  Governor  Vance : 

War  Department,  Washington  City,  May  8th,  1S65. 
Lieutenant  General  U.  S.  Grant,  Commanding  Armies  U.  S. 

General  :     The  President  directs  that  Z.  B.  Vance,  who  has  been 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  99 

claiming  to  act  as  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  be  immediately 
arrested  and  sent  under  close  guard  to  Washington.  You  will  please 
issue  orders  to  carry  this  direction  into  effect. 

Your  obedient  servant,  EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

Secretary  of  War. 

Washington,  D.  C,  I\Iay  nth,  1865,  11  o'clock  p.  m. 
To  Major  General  /.  M.  Schofield,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

By  direction  of  the  President  you  vsdll  at  once  arrest  Zebulon  B. 
Vance,  late  Rebel  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  send  him  to  Wash- 
ington under  close  guard,  and  acknowledge  receipt. 

U.  S.  GRANT,  Lieutenant  General. 

U.  S.  Military  Telegraph,  May  15th,  1865. 
By  Telegraph  from  Lexington  to  Lietitenant  Colonel  J.  A.  Camp- 
bell, A.  A.  G.  Department  Virginia: 

Governor  Vance  has  been  arrested  and  will  leave  on  12  o'clock 
train  for  General  Cox's  headquarters.  J.  KILPATRICK, 

Brevet  Brigadier  General. 

U.  S.  Military  Telegraph,  May  15th,  1865. 
By    Telegraph  from  Greensboro  to  Major  General  f.  M.  Schofield, 

Commanding  Department  of  North  Carolina  : 

Governor  Vance  leaves  for  Raleigh  this  p.  m.  on  the  cars  under 
guard.  J.  D.  COX,  Major  General  Commanding. 

War'Department,  Washington  City,  May  20th,  1865. 
To  Major  General  Augur,  Commanding  Department  of  Washijigton: 
Sir  :     The  Secretary  of  War  directs  that  you  take  into  custody  and 
keep  seciirely  in  the  Old  Capitol  Prison  until  fi:rther  orders,  the  per- 
son of  Z.  B.  Vance,  Rebel  Governor  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 
I  am,  very  respectfully,  JAS.  A.  HARDIE, 

Brevet  Brigadier  General  U.  S.  A. 
Old  Capitol  Prison,  May  20th,   1865. 

[endorsement.] 
Headquarters,  Department  Washington, 
Twenty-Second  Army  Corps,  May  20th,  1865. 
Respectfully  referred   to   Colonel   T.    Ingraham,    Provost   Marshal, 
Defence  North  of  the  Potomac,  for  compliance  with  directions  of  the 
Honorable  Secretary  of  War.     By  Command  of  Major  General  Augur, 

A.  E.  KING,  A.  A.  G. 

Headquarters  Department  of  Washington, 
Office  of  Provost  Marshal  General,  Defences  North 

of  Potomac,  Washington,  D.  C,  May  20th,  1865. 
Received  of  Lieutenant  Spencer  the  person  of  Z.  B.  Vance,  Rebel 
Governor  of  North  Carolina.  J.  W.  SHARP, 

Lieut,  and  A.  A.  D.  C. 


lOO  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Headquarters  Military  District  of  Washington, 
Provost  Marshal's  Office,  Washington,  May  2otli,  1865. 
To  the  Superintendent  of  the  Old  Capitol  Prison  : 

You  will  receive  and  confine  in  the  prison  under  your  charge,  until 
further  orders,  the  person  of  Z.  B.  Vance,  Rebel  Governor  of  State 
of  North  Carolina.  Held  for  orders  Secretary  of  War.  To  be  kept  se- 
curely. By  order  of  T.  INGRAHAM, 

Colonel  and  Provost  Marshal. 
J.  W.  SHARP,     Lieut,  and  Adjutant. 

War  Department,  Adjutant  General's  Office, 

Washington,  July  5th,  1S65. 
Major  General  Augnr,  Commanding  Department  of  Washington: 

Sir  :  The  President  of  the  United  States  directs  that  Mr.  Vance, 
of  North  Carolina,  be  released  on  giving  his  parole  to  leave  Washing- 
ton immediately  and  proceed  to  his  home  in  North  Carolina,  and 
remain  there  subject  to  the  order  of  the  President.  Acknowledge  re- 
ceipt and  execution  of  this  order.  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully. 
Your  obedient  servant,         E.  D  TOWNSEND. 

Assistant  Adjutant  General. 
Release  sent  up  to  O.  C.  P.  at  7:30  p.  m.,  July  5th,  1865. 

Headquarters,  Department  of  Washington, 
Twenty-Second  Army  Corps,  Washington,  D.  C,  July  5th,  1S65. 
Respectfully  referred  to  Colonel  Ingraham,   Provost  Marshal  Gen- 
eral, Defence  North  of  Potomac  for  the  proper  action.     To  be  returned 
with  report.  By  cominand  of  Major  General  Augur. 

R.  CHANDLER,  Assistant  Adjutant  General. 

District  of  Columbia,  City  of  Washington, 
Old  Capitol  Prison. 
I,  Z.  B.  Vance,  of  Statesville,   North  Carolina,  do  hereby  give  my 
parole  of  honor  that  I  will  immediately  leave  the  City  of  Washington, 
proceed  to  my  home  in  North   Carolina,  and  remain  subject  to  the 
order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

Subscribed  before  me  this  sixth  day  of  July,  1865. 

NEWTON  T.  COLBY,  Lieut.  Colonel  Commanding. 

War  Department,  Adjutant  General's  Office, 
Washington,  December  14th,  1865. 
Brevet  Major  General  T.  H.  Rtiger,   Commanding  Department  of 
North  Carolina,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

vSiR  :  By  direction  of  the  President  the  limits  of  Z.  B.  Vance,  late 
Rebel  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  are  extended,  on  his  parole,  to  the 
limits  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  until  further  orders. 

Please  inform  Mr.  Vance,  and  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  this 
communication.     I  am,  sir, 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Assistant  Adjutant  General. 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  lOI 

StaTESVii^le,  N.  C,  December  26th,  1865. 
I,  Zebulon  B.  Vance,  being  in  arrest  by  order  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States  and  being  admitted  to  parole  within  the  limits  of 
the  State  of  North  Carolina,  do  hereby  pledge  my  honor  faithfully  to 
observe  the  same  and  to  surrender  myself  whenever  required  by  his 
order.  ZP:BUL0N  B.  VANCE. 

Prisoners  of  State,  Jui,y,  1S65. 
Name,  Z.   B.   Vance;    occupation.    Governor  of   North  Carolina;      / 
residence,    Raleigh,    N.    C.  ;     age,  35  ;    where    arrested,   Statesville,      / 
N.  C;  when.  May  13th,  1S65;  committed  by  Colonel  T.  Ingraham;  when,     / 
May  20th,  1865  ;  released  by  order  General  Augur,  July  6th,  1865,   on 
parole  to  go  home  and  remain  subject  to   President's  order  ;   charges, 
etc.,  for  orders  Secretary  of  War. 

A  great  many  reports  as  to  Vance's  capture  obtained 
currency  subsequently,  and  among  them  a  statement  from 
General  Kilpatrick,  of  such  an  annoying  character  as  to 
draw  from  Governor  Vance  the  following  caustic  letter: 

Charlotte,  October  13th,  186S. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  New  York   World  : 

I  see  by  the  public  prints  that  General  Kilpatrick  has  decorated 
me  with  his  disapprobation  before  the  people  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
informs  them,  substantiall}^,  that  he  tamed  me  by  capturing  me  and 
riding  me  two  hundred  miles  on  a  bareback  mule.  I  will  do  him  the 
justice  to  say  that  he  knew  that  was  a  lie  when  he  uttered  it. 

I  surrendered  to  General  Schofield  at  Greensboro,  N  C,  on  the 
2d  of  May,  1S65,  who  told  me  to  go  to  my  home  and  remain  there, 
saying  if  he  got  any  orders  to  arrest  me  he  would  send  there  for  me. 
Accordingly,  I  went  home  and  there  remained  until  I  was  arrested  on 
13th  of  May,  by  a  detachment  of  300  cavalry,  under  Major  Porter,  of 
Harrisburg,  from  whom  I  received  nothing  but  kindness  and  courtesy. 
I  came  in  a  buggy  to  Salisbury,  where  we  took  the  cars. 

I  saw  no  mule  on  the  trip,  yet  I  thought  I  saw  an  ass  at  the  gen- 
eral's headquarters  ;  this  impression  has  since  been  confirmed. 

Respectfully  yours,         Z.  B.  VANCE. 


I02  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

VANCE    AS   LAWYER. 

Witty  Reply  to  Question  on  Examination  for  License — Anecdote — 
Locates  and  First  Practices  in  Buncombe  and  Adjoining  Counties — 
"  Passing  the  Judge  " — Locates  in  Charlotte  After  the  War — Able 
Bar — His  Erudition — Estimate  of  Lord  Brougham — Method  of 
Study — Wonderful  Memory — Surprising  Success  in  Getting  Ver- 
dicts— Powerful  Influence  W^ith  Juries — The  Cause — Artful  as  an 
Advocate — His  Style — Temperament — Disposition — Amiability — 
Kindness  of  Heart — Cared  Not  for  Graces  of  Style  or  Delivery — 
Bold  Propositions  and  Strong  Statements  Preferred — Overwhelm- 
ing in  Repartee — The  Johnston  Will  Case — The  Maxwell  Laud 
Case — Thrilling  Incidents — The  Lexington  Case — Exciting  Trial 
and  Surprising  Verdict — Was  the  Terror  of  Judges  Because  of 
Disturbances  Produced  by  His  Jokes — Judge  Gilliam  Compels  Him 
to  Speak  in  a  Funny  Case,  the  Ear-Biting  Case — The  Union  Count)' 
Case — The  Icehour  Case — Other  Cases,  Incidents  and  Anecdotes — 
Bouts  With  the  Old  County  Courts — Pathetic  and  Humorous. 

THE  career  of  Vance  as  a  lawyer  was  not  continuous 
nor  altogether  very  extended.  His  peculiar  fitness 
for  other  pursuits  interrupted  his  professional  labors  and 
called  him  away  from  them  early  in  life,  and  again  a  few 
years  after  the  war.  From  the  time  he  left  college  in  1852 
till  he  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  in  1854,  he  practiced 
law  in  Buncombe  and  the  adjacent  counties.  From  the 
very  first  he  had  plenty  of  cases  and  clients,  and  he  at  once 
took  place  in  the  front  rank  of  a  very  able  bar.  His  most 
surprising  success  was  in  winning  verdicts.  His  personal 
charms,  his  popular  manners,  his  jovial  nature,  his  sportive 
and  enthusiastic  disposition,  his  inborn  astuteness  and 
rugged  eloquence,  together  with  his  exhaustless  flow  of 
merriment  and  anecdote,  made  him  almost  irresistible 
before  a  jury,  and  gave  him  as  great  a  reputation  for  getr 
ting  surprising  verdicts   as  Lord    Abinger  ever   enjoyed. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  103 

While  never  a  methodical  student,  he  fully  appreciated  the 
importance  of  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  common  law, 
as  well  as  of  current  decisions.  He  knew  Blackstone  well 
and  was  not  unfamiliar  with  Coke  and  other  standard  au- 
thorities and  commentaries.  The  following  incident  which 
occurred  when  he  was  being  examined  for  license,  (related 
by  a  classmate,  W.  H,  Bailey)  illustrates  Ins  tact  and 
ready  wit:  Chief  Justice  Pearson  asked  him  to  give  the 
definition  of  a  contingent  remainder.  Vance  gave  it  in 
the  exact  language  of  Blackstone.  "  Yes,"  replied  Pearson, 
"  that  is  Blackstone's  definition,  but  what  does  F'earne  say?" 
With  perfect  self-possession  and  without  a  moment's  hesi- 
tation, Vance  replied  :  "  If  your  honor  please,  I  \vas  so 
fully  satisfied  with  the  definition  of  the  great  master,  that 
I  did  not  care  to  examine  any  other  authority." 

He  was  accustomed  to  tell  the  follow'ing  story  on  him- 
self relating  to  the  early  period  of  his  practice.  While 
attending  court  in  one  of  the  counties  of  his  circuit,  a 
group  of  men  were  discussing  in  the  court  yard  the  merits 
of  the  different  lawyers  who  attended  at  that  bar.  Some 
said  Woodfin  was  the  best  lawyer ;  some  thought  Gaither 
the  best  ;  some  one  and  some  another,  and  finally  a  large 
man  with  a  small,  sharp  voice  squeaked  out:  "'Well, 
gintlewr//,  I  have  noticed  this  little  feller  Vance,  and  if  he 
kin  git  apast  the  jedge,  he's  about  as  good  as  any  av  'em." 

After  being  relased  from  his  imprisonment  at  the  Old 
Capitol,  Vance  settled  in  Charlotte,  and  again  entered  into 
the  practice  of  the  law.  Here  he  came  in  contact  with  a 
very  able  bar — Wilson,  Osborne,  Boyden,  Bailey,  Guion 
and  others.  He  also  attended  the  courts  at  Lexington, 
Salisbury,  Concord,  Monroe,  Lincolnton  and  Dallas.  At 
these  courts  he  met  other  very  able  lawyers,  viz :  Mc- 
Corkle,  Craige,  Clements,  Gilmer,  Leach,  Settle,  Bynum, 
Hoke,  Ashe,  Dargan  and  many  others.  He  was  at  first,  of 
course,  somewhat  rusty,  especially  as  to  the  practice  and 
modes  of  procedure.     But  he  quickly  and  rapidly  recuper- 


I04  LIFE   OK  VANCE. 

ated.  He  soon  recovered  his  full  knowledge  of  Blackstone, 
and  would  upon  occasion  quote,  often  with  great  merri- 
ment, the  quaint  definitions  and  dog  Latin,  as  he  called  it, 
of  Lord  Coke.  He  also  had  great  admiration  for  Lord 
Brougham,  and  was  fond  of  quoting  from  his  opinions  and 
speeches.  And  this  admiration  was  not  at  all  weakened 
by  the  well-known  criticism  of  Erskine,  who  did  not 
believe  that  any  man  who  gave  as  much  time  as  Brougham 
did  to  the  study  of  astronomy,  natural  history,  chemistry, 
mathematics,  and  even  cookery,  could  possibly  be  a  pro- 
found lawyer,  and  remarked  with  stunning  sarcasm  :  "  If 
Brougham  only  knew  a  little  law  he  would  know  a  little 
of  everything."  Vance  did  not  agree  with  Erskine,  but 
believed  that  Lord  Brougham,  notwithstanding  his  varied 
attainments  and  his  marvelous  acquaintance  with  the 
sciences,  also  possessed  a  profound  knowledge  of  lav;,  and 
that  he  knew  how,  to  a  degree  above  almost  any  other  Eng- 
lishman, to  make  wise  and  effective  use  of  that  knowledge. 

In  a  lecture  before  the  law  class  at  Georgetown  College, 
D.  C,  in  1883,  he  said  :  "  The  stories  which  are  told  of 
Lord  Brougham  well  exemplify  my  idea  of  the  accom- 
plished lawyer.  An  instance  is  told  of  his  trying  a  case 
involving  an  intricate  question  of  mechanics  wherein  he 
displayed  off  hand  so  much  knowledge  of  the  subject  as  to 
utterly  confound  the  court,  the  bar  and  the  professional  ex- 
perts. Though  Brougham  disproved,  to  the  extent  of  his 
example,  the  truth  of  the  saying  that  conceit  is  the  parent 
of  idleness,  in  truth  he  was  the  most  conceited  of  men  and 
the  most  industrious.  Lord  Welborne  is  credited  with  say- 
ing of  him  :  '  I  wish  I  was  as  cock-sure  of  anything  as 
Brougham  is^verything.'  " 

But  from  the  very  first  Vance  was  at  no  great  disadvan- 
tage in  contests  with  the  ablest  of  his  competitors.  If  he 
sometimes  had  trouble  in  passing  the  judge,  he  generally 
gave  his  opponents  more  trouble  in  passing  the  jury.  If 
he  was  not  as  glib  at  the  start  in  discussing  pleadings  and 


i 


AGE  ABOUT  36. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  105 

technicalities  as  some  of  the  others,  he  generally  came  ont 
ahead  at  the  finish.  His  great  power  was  with  the  juries. 
He  had  sincere  admiration  of  the  jury  system  and  that  fact 
shown  conspicuously  in  all  his  jury  speeches.  He  regarded 
the  jury  as  the  great  bulwark  of  personal  rights  and  as  the 
fortress  and  shield  of  tlie  weak  and  unfortunate.  Sympa- 
thy begets  sympathy.  His  bearing  towards  the  jury  was 
always  bland  and  respectful,  and  his  style  was  easy,  plain 
and  for  the  most  part  colloquical  rather  than  declamatory,  v^ 
He  did  not  address  them  as  inferiors,  nor  as  a  subordinate 
part  of  the  machinery  of  the  Court,  but  would  put  them  on 
their  manhood  and  independence,  remind  them  that  they 
were  supreme  in  their  own  province  and  that  the  Court 
was  as  much  bound  to  take  their  verdict  as  final  in  mat- 
ters of  fact  as  they  were  bound  to  accept  the  law  from  the 
Court.  Hence  he  appealed  to  them  as  men  capable  of 
thinking  and  reasoning  and  as  always  willing  to  exercise 
their  own  judgment  and  their  own  volition  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  duties.  A  keen,  discriminating  judge  of 
human  nature,  he  could  generally  tell  by  a  juror's  counte- 
nance whether  he  was  convinced  or  still  doubtingf,  and 
consequently  knew  how  to  avoid  tiresome  iteration  or  need- 
less repetition.  As  Macaulay  said  of  Addison,  "there  were 
no  dregs  in  his  wine.  He  regales  after  the  fashion  of  the 
nabob  who  held  that  there  was  only  one  good  glass  in  a 
bottle.  As  soon  as  we  have  tasted  the  first  sparkling  foam 
of  an  argument  or  jest,  a  fresh  draught  of  nectar  is  put  to 
our  lips."  He  understood  well  the  advantage  of  anticipat- 
ing and  taking  the  sting  out  of  his  adversary's  argument, 
a  faculty  which  he  often  employed  with  great  skill  and 
effectiveness. 

His  manner  and  appearance  were  always  engaging. 
As  Lady  Blenington  said  of  a  great  English  advocate,  "  his 
countenance  had  in  it  a  happy  mixture  of  sparkling  intel- 
ligence and  good  nature."  His  diction  was  never  very 
ornate  when  speaking  extemporaneously,  but  was  always 


Io6  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

marked  by  cogency  and  variety,  and  frequently  by  splendor. 
He  knew  the  importance  of  using-  even  small  facts  and 
circumstances,  and  his  arguments  were  so  compact  and  at 
the  same  time  so  luminous,  and  his  illustrations  so  apt  and 
witty,  that  it  was  no  wonder  jurors  almost  unconsciously 
fell  into  and  adopted  his  views  and  theories.  He  did  not 
seem  to  care  for  the  mere  ornamentations  of  rhetoric, 
though  his  language  was  nearly  always  correct  and  fre- 
quently elegant.  He  preferred  the  more  powerful  weapons 
of  logic  and  solid  facts,  bold  propositions  briefly  and  clearly 
stated,  strong  and  pithy  sentences,  interspersed,  albeit, 
with  appropriate  illustrations  and  mirth  provoking  anec- 
dotes. He  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  that  fclicite 
V  andax  in  language  and  manner  which  a  celebrated  English 
lawyer  boasted  of  possessing. 

Although  his  temperament  and  disposition  were  always 
^  sportive  and  bouyant,  and  though  he  sometimes  employed 

m.erriment  and  even  ridicule,  which  would  have  seemed 
merciless  had  it  not  been  tempered  and  softened  by  his 
overflowing  good  humor,  yet  he  rarely  indulged  in  invec- 
tive and  more  rarely  in  denunciation.  These  weapons, 
however,  when  he  did  employ  them,  never  failed  to  blast 
and  annihilate  the  objects  aimed  at. 

Although  he  did  not  care  for  the  mere  graces  of  lan- 
guage and  style,  and,  it  is  safe  to  say,  never  declaimed 
before  a  mirror  to  improve  his  gestures,  nor  with  a  pebble 
in  his  mouth  to  perfect  his  enunciation,  nor  to  audiences 
of  rocks,  trees  and  rivulets  to  enhance  the  intonation  of  his 
voice,  yet  when  aroused  and  when  approaching  the  climax 
of  his  argument  in  an  important  case,  he  frequenth-  gave 
vent  to  ornate,  vehement  and  eloquent  words,  which 
seemed  to  come  from  his  own  deep  convictions,  which 
thrilled  all  listeners  and  filled  them  with  emotion,  and 
could  not  fail  to  profoundly  impress  and  move  the  jurors. 

He  was  not  always  fluent  at  the  beginning  of  a  speech, 
but  would  at  times  appear  to  be  embarrassed  or  at  a   loss 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  107 

for  words,  and  at  such  times  would  occasioually  use  awk- 
wark  if  not  incorrect  phrases.  But  very  soon  a  vein  of 
pleasantry  and  a  lucidity  of  outline  would  appear  which 
took  complete  possession  of  the  jury  and  the  bystanders, 
andasheproceede'dstepby  step  imparted  solidity  and  weight 
to  every  argument.  Circumstances  apparently  trivial 
would  become  under  his  masterful  handling  gradually 
clear,  weighty  and  convincing. 

He  was  always  overwhelming  in  rejoinder  and  repartee. 
The  man  who  interrupted  him  wdiile  speaking  or  under- 
took to  correct  him  never  failed  to  get  the  worst  of  the 
encounter  and  rarely  repeated  the  experiment. 

One  of  the  most  noted  trials  in  the  history  of  the  juris- 
prudence of  this  State  was  the  Johnston  will  case.  It 
began  at  a  special  term  of  Chowan  Superior  Court,  at 
Edenton,  February  6th,  1867,  and  lasted  four  weeks.  A 
number  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  in  the  State  were  en- 
gaged, viz:  Moore,  Smith,  Winston,  Heath,  Gilliam, 
Conigland,  Phillips  and  Battle  for  the  propounders,  and 
Graham,  Bragg,  Vance  and  Eaton  for  the  caveators. 

The  will  was  made  in  1861,  disposing  of  a  very  large 
property  in  land  and  slaves  in  four  counties,  viz :  Chowan, 
Halifax,  Northampton  and  Pasquotank.  The  beneficiaries 
were  the  overseers  and  business  managers  of  the  testator, 
all  his  relatives  being  -excluded.  The  allegation  of  the 
caveators  was  that  he  was  insane,  and  many  of  his  letters 
were  introduced,  with  other  circumstances,  in  support  of 
this  contention.  Many  of  the  letters  concluded  as  follows : 
"Give  my  love  to   Sister  Sal  and  Cousin  Sue,  and  to  my 

friend ."     During  Vance's  speech  to  the  jury,  which 

had  drawn  an  immense  crowd  to  the  court  house,  one  of 
the  opposing  counsel  several  times  interrupted  him  for 
the  purpose  of  correcting  his  statements  of  the  facts  or  the 
law.  As  usual,  Vance  got  the  better  of  the  encounter,  and 
several  times  quoted  the  refrain  in  the  letters  :  "Give  my 
love    to    Sister   Sal,    Cousin    Sue,"  etc.     Finally    another 


I08  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

member  of  the  opposing  counsel  called  to  the  attention  of 
his  associate  who  had  been  interrupting  Vance  the  fact 
that  he  was  again  off  the  track,  and  suggested  that  he 
be  called  down.  "Well  now,"  said  the  ^lawyer  who  had 
had  the  unpleasant  experiences,  "  if  you  want  him  called 
down  do  it  yourself.     I  have  had  enough  of  it." 

Another  incident  of  this  trial,  often  related  by  Judge 
Merrimon,  who  presided,  is  worth}'  of  note.  It  was  in 
evidence  that  Mr.  Johnston,  the  testator,  had  said  in  one  of 
the  letters  referred  to  in  the  will,  that  relatives  and  friends 
adhered  to  one  very  closely  when  in  prosperity,  but  in 
time  of  trouble  or  adversity  would  forsake  him.  Vance, 
who  the  Judge  said  made  a  most  powerful  speech  and  had 
the  b3'standers,  who  literally  packed  the  court  house,  under 
the  spell  of  his  eloquence  from  beginning  to  end,  contro- 
verted that  statement,  and  said  it  was  a  libel  on  human 
nature  ;  that  he  himself  was  a  living  refutation  of  it ;  that 
he  had  been  honored  far  beyond  his  deserts,  having  been  a 
Representative  in  Congress  and  twice  elected  Governor  of 
the  State,  but  that  at  present  he  was  a  paroled  prisoner  of 
the  United  States,  pleading  the  cause  of  a  client  before  the 
Court  and  jury  by  the  grace  of  the  government  which  had 
arrested  him  and  thrown  him  into  prison,  and  that  never 
when  in  the  height  of  his  prosperity  and  political  power 
did  he  feel  that  he  had  more  warm  and  fondly  attached 
friends  than  at  the  present  moment.  Thereupon,  said  the 
Judge,  the  court  house  became  v»^ild  w'ith  excitement ;  the 
ladies  present,  of  Mdiom  there  were  many,  waving  their 
handkerchiefs,  and  the  men  stamping  and  applauding  at 
the  top  of  their  voices;  his  and  the  sheriff's  cries  of  "order 
in  Court "  were  powerless  to  check  the  applause,  which 
lasted  for  ten  minutes  or  more.  Such  a  scene  in  Court, 
the  Judge  said,  he  had  never  witnessed,  and  that  the  out- 
break was  so  spontaneous  and  so  free  from  conscious 
impropriety  that  he  did  not  think  the  occasion  called  for 
punishment  for  contempt  or  even  a  sharp  reprimand. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  109 

He  was  not  always  diligent  in  the  preparation  of  cases. 
He  h.ad  gone  through  so  much  excitement  during  and  at 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  had  recently  been  affected  by  a 
stroke  of  facial  paralysis,  causing  the  muscles  of  his  left 
cheek  and  eye  to  occasionally  jerk  and  twitch,  so  that  he 
was  at  times  nervous,  and  could  not  well  undergo  contin- 
uous labor  in  a  sitting  posture.  Hence  his  habit  was  to 
read  and  study  while  reclining  on  a  bed  or  lounge. 

When  the  trial  of  a  case  was  begun,  however,  he  was  all 
attention.  Nothing  escaped  him.  He  literally  absorbed 
the  testimony  of  the  witness,  even  the  smallest  details,  and 
very  soon  also  became  thoroughly  posted  as  to  the  law 
points  involved.  If  a  case  was  adjourned  over  night  he 
would  "dog-ear,"  as  he  termed  it,  the  pages  in  the  books 
of  authority  which  had  been  cited  to  the  court,  take  tliem 
to  his  home,  and  the  next  morning  come  back  the  equal  if 
not  the  superior  of  any  lawyer  in  the  case  in  the  discus- 
sion and  application  of  the  principles  and  decisions 
involved.  The  first  case  of  great  importance  in  which  he 
was  engaged  after  coming  to  Charlotte  was  that  of  Max- 
well vs.  ]\IcDowell.  It  was  an  ejectment  suit  for  the 
recovery  of  a  valuable  tract  of  land  in  Mecklenburg 
county,  and  involved  many  difficult  questions  of  law  and 
fact.  The  ablest  lawyers  at  the  bar  here  were  engaged, 
and  the  trial  lasted  nearly  a  week.  Many  witnesses  were 
examined  and  many  questions  of  law  and  evidence  dis- 
cussed. Every  night  Vance  would  take  the  books  home 
with  him,  as  before  described,  and  it  was  astonishing  to 
see  how  he  was  recuperated  and  reinforced  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  with  what  freshness,  lucidity,  ease  and  originality 
he  discussed  the  various  points  of  law  arising  in  the  case. 

He  seemed  to  be  not  only  well  posted  as  to  the  particu- 
lar points  involved  in  this  case  but  also  upon  the  general 
doctrine  of  the  law  of  ejectment  and  was  ready  upon  the  new 
points  that  afterwards  arose.  His  memory  was  truly  won- 
derful.    He  could  recall  with  perfect  accuracy  even  to  the 


no  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

very  words,  the  testimony  of  any  witness  who  had  been  ex- 
amined and  whenever  a  dispute  arose  as  to  what  any 
witness  had  said  Vance's  recollection  was  invariably  sus- 
tained by  referring  to  the  stenographer's  notes  or  recalling 
the  witness  to  the  stand.  It  is  no  disparagement  to  the 
other  able  lawyers  who  appeared  in  this  case  to  say  that 
Vance's  speech  was  universally  regarded  by  lawyers  as  well 
as  laymen  who  heard  it,  as  by  far  the  ablest  and  best  de- 
livered in  the  case.  His  analysis  and  grouping  of  the 
evidence,  his  clear  and  forcible  deductions,  his  humorous 
comparisons  and  characterizations,  his  soul-stirring  appeals, 
and  his  apt  and  side-splitting  illustrations  electrified  the 
great  crowd  which  had  packed  the  court  house  to  hear  him, 
while  his  arguments  to  the  Court  were  elaborate,  coherent, 
marvelously  lucid  and  thoroughly  lawyer-like.  It  is  easy 
to  perceive  the  difference  between  the  speech  in  court  of  a 
well-read  and  experienced  practitioner  and  that  of  a  mere 
politician.  But  Vance,  when  at  all  posted  in  a  case,  talked 
like  a  lawyer.  He  recalled  definitions  and  decisions  with 
great  facility  and  aptitude,  while  the  richness  and  fluency 
of  his  vocabulary  was  enhanced  and  adorned  with  a  copious 
supply  of  legal  phrases  and  maxims.  He  was  never  an 
actor  before  a  jury,  and  descended  to  none  of  the  tricks  of 
the  stage  or  the  arts  of  the  demagogue.  With  all  his  mer- 
riment and  overflowing  humor,  he  always  appeared  to  be 
in  dead  earnest  as  to  the  main  issue,  and  never  failed  to 
impress  the  jury  with  the  depth  and  firmness  of  his  own 
convictions. 

Nothing  can  be  risked  in  asserting  that  a  greater  forensic 
triumph  was  never  achieved  in  the  courts  of  North  Caro- 
lina than  that  won  by  Vance  in  a  case  tried  at  Lexington 
soon  after  the  Vv'ar.  The  defendant  was  on  trial  for  rape. 
Leach  appeared  with  Vance  for  the  defence,  and  Settle  was 
the  prosecuting  attorney.  The  witness  swore  to  the  fact 
positively,  and  her  testimony  was  but  little  if  at  all  shaken 
by  the  cross-examination  or  by  any  evidence  the  defendant 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  Ill 

could  offer.  Settle  opened  the  discussion  in  a  short  speech, 
which  was  characterized  by  his  usual  fierceness  and  with 
the  manifest  expectation  that  the  defendant  would  be  con- 
victed. Leach  followed  in  his  usual  style  ;  he  was  sometimes 
eloquent,  sometimes  pathetic  and  occasionally  funny,  but 
it  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  all  the  way  through  he  was 
oppressed  by  a  sense  of  the  danger  that  hung  like  a  pall 
over  the  life  of  his  client.  Vance  followed  Leach.  The 
crime  was  alleged  to  have  been  committed  during  the  war 
and  while  the  defendant  was  at  home  on  furlough.  It  was 
shown  that  he  had  been  a  favorite  suitor,  but  that  after  he 
had  gone  to  the  army  the  witness  had  married  the  other 
man ;  that  he  had  served  through  the  war,  and  had  been 
several  times  wounded.  Vance  was  at  his  prime  mentally 
and  physically,  never  appeared  in  better  plight,  and  he  had 
a  theme  to  his  liking.  After  the  first  five  minutes  the 
conclusion  of  every  sentence  was  greeted  by  storms  of  ap- 
plause and  laughter.  Fowle  was  on  the  bench,  and  he 
sought  for  a  while  to  preserve  the  dignity  of  the  court  by 
threatening  to  have  the  sheriff  clear  the  court  room,  which 
was  packed  to  suffocation.  But  all  in  vain.  He  soon 
gave  up  the  effort,  and  court,  jury  and  bystanders  were 
alike  abandoned  to  what  Leach  termed  the  "  spell-binding 
power  of  the  speaker."  Sparkling  flashes  of  wit,  the  oddest 
mimicry,  comic  postures  and  gestures,  earnest  appeals  to 
the  common  sense  and  common  experience  of  men,  humor- 
ous and  sometimes  saddening  comments  upon  the  frailties 
of  human  passion  and  the  vital  temptation  of  a  woman 
under  certain  circumstances  to  swear  falsely,  followed  each 
other  in  rapid  succession.  Anecdote  after  anecdote  con- 
vulsed the  crowd.  His  theory  of  the  case  was  not  only 
original  and  amusing,  but  withal  highly  plausible.  One 
of  his  anecdotes  might  have  been,  and  probably  was,  manu- 
factured for  the  occasiou.  The  circumstance  had  happened 
"  up  in  the  mountain  country  "  where  he  was  accustomed 
to  locate  many  of  his   funny  stories.     The  defendant  had 


112  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

been  indicted  for  a  similar  offence,  alleged  to  have  been 
committed  nnder  very  similar  circnmstances ;  he  belonged 
to  the  army  and  was  at  home  on  furlough,  and  the  speaker 
related  with  an  inimitable  mixture  of  pathos  and  humor  how 
the  prosecutrix,  a  married  woman,  in  order  to  cover  up  her 
own  shame  and  screen  her  family  from  disgrace,  had  been 
induced,  coerced  in  fact,  by  her  maddened  husband  "to 
swarr  the  rape  agin  the  fellow."  Before  Vance  had  pro- 
ceeded far  in  his  speech,  the  solicitor  became  so  interested 
and  amused  that  he  moved  his  chair  over  close  to  the  jury 
and  sat  as  nearly  in  front  of  the  speaker  as  possible.  He 
enjoyed  the  speech  as  much  and  laughed  as  heartily  as  any 
one  in  the  packed  court  house.  He  was  entitled  to  the 
conclusion,  but  when  Vance  finished,  he  rose  but  half  way 
up,  his  handsome  features  still  twitching  with  merriment, 
and  told  the  Judge  he  did  not  desire  to  say  anything  more, 
thus  virtually  giving  up  the  case.  After  a  short  charge  by 
the  judge,  whose  voice  showed  that  he  was  still  almost 
choking  with  laughter,  the  jury  retired,  and  in  less  than 
five  minutes  returned  a  verdict  of  not  guilty.  Such  a  scene 
as  followed  has  rarely  been  witnessed  in  a  court  house. 
The  b}'standers  literally  took  the  defendant  out  in  their 
arms  and  were  with  difficulty  prevented  from  also  hoisting 
Vance  upon  their  shoulders.  No  one  who  heard  that 
speech  can  ever  forget  it.  The  late  Honorable  John  A. 
Gilmer,  Senior,  who  was  present  at  the  trial  was  heard  to 
say  afterwards  that  he  had  never  heard  such  a  speech  in  all 
his  life  and  never  expected  to  hear  another  such  though  he 
should  live  to  be  a  hundred  years  old. 

Vance  was  the  mortal  terror  of  some  of  the  judges  and 
sheriffs  because  of  the  absolute  impossibility  of  preserving 
order  while  he  held  the  floor.  A  deputy  sheriff  who  acted 
as  court  officer  in  Mecklenburg  attracted  attention  and 
often  increased  the  merriment,  especially  among  the  law- 
yers inside  of  the  bar,  by  his  burlesque  efforts  to  preserve 
order.     Judge  L/Ogan  held   the  courts  of   this  district  for 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  ^^3 

several  years,  and  having  no  appreciation  of  hnmor  himself, 
would  often  scold  and  threaten  the  officer  for  not  keeping 
silence,   although   everybody   knew  it  was  impossible    to 
keep  the  crowd  from   laughing  at  Vance's  anecdotes  and 
witty  speeches.     The  deputy,  J.  J.  Sims,  in  order  to  screen 
himself  from   the   censure  of  the  court,  would  stand  with 
his  back  to  the  judge,  watch  Vance  closely,  and  just  as  he 
was  reaching  the  climax  of  a  funny  story,  would  yell   out 
at  the   top  of  his  voice:     "Silence  in  court,"  and  then, 
without  closing  his  mouth,  lead  in  the  bursts  of  laughter 
that  followed.    Others  of  the  judges,  like  good  old  Robert  B 
Gilliam,  for  instance,  who  themselves  appreciated  wit  and 
humor,   were  always  delighted   to  hear  Vance,   and  glad 
when  he  appeared  in  a  case  on  trial  before  them. 

At  a  court  held  by  Judge  Gilliam  in  Charlotte  a  case 
was  being  tried  which  presented  some  humorous  features. 
When  Vance's   associate  in  the   case  had   concluded  his 
speech  to    the    jury    Vanc-e  was  expected   to  follow,  but 
declined  to  do  so,  saying  his  associate  had  covered  the  case 
very  fullv,  and  he  did  not  deem  it  necessary  for  him  to  say 
anything.     Gilliam  leaned  forward  and  shaking  his  knee 
nervousfy,  looked  Vance  full  in  the  face  and  said:     "Mr. 
Vance,  I  think  you  better  make  a  few  remarks."     Vance 
saw  from  the  twinkle  of  the  judge's  eyes  that  he  wanted 
fun  but  his  associate  did   not  understand  the  remark  and 
did  not  feel  at  all  complimented.     Vance  proceeded  to  ad- 
dress the  jury  in  one  of  the  wittiest  speeches  of  his  life, 
and  kept  the  court  house  for  15  or  20  minutes  in  almost  a 
continuous  roar  of  laughter  in  which  the  judge  joined  most 
heartily.     After  the  case  was  concluded  the  judge  called 
Vance  and  his  associate  up  to  him  and  putting  a  hand  on 
the  shoulder  of  each,   first  addressing  the  associate,  said : 
"  You  did  not  understand  my  remark  but  Vance  did.     I  did 
not  intend  to  reflect  on  your  speech   at  all;  it  was  a  good 
speech  and  you  said  everything  that  was  necessary."    And 
then  turning  to  Vance,   he  continued  :     "  But,   Vance,   I 


114  WFE   OF   VANCE. 

serve  notice  on  you  now  that  I  am  not  g^oing  to  let  you  off 
in  any  of  these  cases ;  whenever  a  case  like  this  comes  up 
you  have  got  to  speak." 

Vance  enjoyed  jokes  on  himself  as  much  as  on  others,  if 
not  more.  He  was  accustomed  to  tell  the  following  to 
illustrate  a  rather  careless  practice  he  occasionally  fell  into. 
He  was  not  always  careful  to  examine  his  witnesses  in  his 
office  before  putting  them  on  the  stand.  His  client  in  this 
instance  was  indicted  for  assault,  it  being  also  alleged  that 
he  had  bitten  off  part  of  the  prosecutor's  ear.  There  was 
a  plea  of  guilty  as  to  the  assault,  but  the  maiming  was  de- 
nied. The  defendant's  contention  was  that  the  piece  of 
ear  was  torn  off  in  the  scuffle  which  took  place  in  a  piece 
of  new  ground  where  there  were  many  fresh  cut  roots  and 
bushes.  The  evidence  was  being  submitted  to  the  Court, 
as  affecting  the  measure  of  punishment.  After  all  the 
regular  witnesses  had  testified,  the  defendant  put  his  hand 
on  Vance's  shoulder  and  pulling  him  back,  whispered,  "put 
up  Jack  Deans."  "Who  is  Jack  Deans?"  said  Vance. 
"What  does  he  know?"  "That's  all  right,"  said  the  client, 
"  he  seed  all  the  fight,  helped  to  part  us  and  he'll  swear  he 
he  didn't  see  no  biting."  The  witness  was  called  to  the 
stand  and  under  his  examination  in  chief  stated  that  he 
saw  the  fight  from  beginning  to  end,  helped  to  part  the 
combatants,  and  that  he  saw  no  biting ;  he  was  very  em- 
phatic in  the  assertion  that  he  did  not  see  the  defendant 
bite  the  ear.  When  turned  over  for  cross-examination,  he 
said  very  meekly,  in  reply  to  the  solicitor's  question,  that 
he  knew  he  was  required  by  his  oath  to  tell  the  zvhole 
truth.  "  Well,  sir,"  said  the  solicitor  sharply,  "  you  have 
told  us  what  you  didn't  see,  now  tell  us  what  you  did  see?" 
The  witness  was  downcast  and  reluctant  at  first  but  under 
the  urging  of  the  solicitor  presently  raised  up  his  head  and 
casting  a  forlorn  look  towards  his  friend  and  his  lawyer,  said : 
"  Well,  jist  as  we  raised  him  up,  I  seen  him  spit  a  piece  of 
the  ear  outen  his  mouth  !"     Vance  was  heard  to  say  after- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  II5 

wards  that  he  would  never  put  another  witness  on  the  stand 
in  any  sort  of  a  case  without  first  knowing  what  he  would 
say. 

Another  he  told  as  taking  place  in  Union  county. 
Just  as  he  had  arrived  at  his  hotel  and  was  in  his  room 
brushing  off  the  dust,  an  old  litigant  entered  whom  he 
knew,  and  placing  a  bill  of  money  on  the  table,  told  Vance 
he  wanted  to  employ  him  in  a  case  that  would  be  among 
the  first  for  trial.  And  then  he  went  on  to  explain  by 
saying  he  had  a  lawyer,  but  did  not  like  him.  "Who  is 
he  and  what  is  the  matter?"  inquired  Vance.  "Mr.  Ashe," 
said  the  client,  "  but  he  don't  manage  my  case  to  suit  me." 
"  Well,  now,"  said  Vance,  "  Mr.  Ashe  is  one  of  the  best 
lawyers  in  the  State  and  a  perfect  gentleman  besides,  and 
if  he  can't  please  you  I  cannot  hope  to."  "  Oh,  I  know 
all  that,"  broke  in  the  client;  "  I  know  Mr.  Ashe  is  a  gen- 
tleman, but  that  is  the  trouble;  he  is  too  much  of  a 
gentleman  ;  I  want  you — a  man  what  can  git  down  and 
fling  dirt  (with  the  opposing  counsel,  naming  him)  like 
you  kin." 

The  Icehour  case,  tried  in  Charlotte,  is  well  remembered 
and  often  spoken  of  by  the  members  of  the  bar  and  others. 
The  suit  was  brought  for  the  recovery  of  the  value  of 
15  pounds  of  bacon  and  a  peck  of  salt.  It  was  in  the  Su- 
perior Court  by  appeal  from  a  magistrate.  Vance  appeared 
for  the  plaintiff  and  the  late  Hon.  J.  H.  Wilson  for  the  de- 
fendant. The  parties  were  rather  noted  litigants  between 
whom  there  was  a  feud  of  long  standing;  many  witnesses 
were  in  attendance,  every  point  was  being  hotly  contested 
and  it  was  seen  the  case  would  occupy  much  of  the  time  of 
the  Court.  The  docket  was  heavy  and  a  full  bar  in  attend- 
ance. In  a  spirit  of  levity  somebody  started  a  subscription 
to  make  up  the  amount  in  controversy  in  this  little  case 
and  get  it  out  of  the  way  of  important  cases.  The  paper 
was  passed  to  Vance  and  to  humor  the  joke  he  put  down 
a  subscription.     But  Mr.  Wilson  took  the  matter  seriously 


Il6  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

and  arose  to  explain  and  vindicate  his  conrse  to  the  jndge. 
He  said  in  his  nsual  snave  and  fluent  manner,  the  amount 
involved  was  small,  it  was  true,  but  his  client  was  a  poor 
man  and  thought  the  claim  very  unjust,  and  that  it  was  the 
his  duty  as  a  lawyer  to  do  every  thing  in  his  power  to 
vindicate  his  client's  rights.  Vance  followed  in  a  humorous 
and  mimic  way,  repeating  almost  verbatim  the  language  of 
Mr,  Wilson,  the  amount  involved  was  small,  it  was  true, 
but  his  client  was  a  poor  man,  and  thought  the  claim  a 
very  just  one,  and  it  was  his  duty  as  a  lawyer  to 
do  everything  in  his  power  to  vindicate  his  client's  rights. 
Amid  the  laughter  that  followed,  Mr.  Wilson  inquired  in 
an  elevated  voice :  ''  But,  brother  Vance,  what  did  you 
put  in  the  salt  for,  there  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  as  to 
that  ?"  As  quick  as  lightning  and  with  inimitable  drollery, 
Vance  replied:  "Why,  brother  Wilson,  the  salt  was  put 
in  to  save  the  bacon — you  ought  to  know  as  everybody  else 
knows,  that  salt  is  always  necessary  to  save  bacon." 

Vance's  law  partner  was  mayor  of  the  town  at  one  time. 
The  word  mayor  is  pronounced  by  the  illiterate  people  of 
Charlotte  and  by  nearly  all  the  colored  people,  as  a  mono- 
syllable, and  as  if  spelled  marc.  A  man  went  to  the  office 
one  day,  where  Vance  was  chatting  with  Col.  J.  Iv.  More- 
head,  the  partner  being  out,  and  inquired  "  is  the  mare 
in?"  "No,"  said  Vance,  looking  very  seriously  at  the 
man,  "  the  marc  is  not  in,  but  here's  the  old  boss  ;  what 
can  I  do  for  you  ?" 

A  young  man  was  on  trial  for  a  misdemeanor,  and 
it  became  necessary  to  prove  for  him  a  good  character. 
Vance  was  his  lawyer.  After  several  witnesses  had 
been  called,  none  of  whom  could  say  anything  good  of 
the  defendant,  he  asked  that  his  father  (daddy,  as  he  called 
him),  who  was  a  preacher,  be  put  on  the  stand.  The  old' 
man  was  sworn,  but  even  he  could  not  say  anything  good 
of  his  son,  admitting  that  he  was  somewhat  stubborn,  hard- 
headed  and  hard  to  manage.     After  the  case  was  over,  the 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  II7 

young  man  rushed  into  Vance's  office,  and  in  an  excited 
manner,  said,  "  Well,  Governor,  for  an  old  man  and  a 
preacher,  so,  didn't  Dad  give  in  the  d — st  weakest  evidence 
you  ever  heard  in  the  court  house?" 

It  is  no  disparagement  to  say  Vance  had  never  any  real 
heart  in  the  practice  of  law.  It  was  not  suited  to  his  tastes 
or  his  ambition.  Certain  it  is  he  had  no  desire  to  be  a 
judge.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  dream  of  his  ambi- 
tion during  the  few  years  he  practiced  before  the  war,  the 
disrepute  into  which  the  bench  descended  during  the  re- 
construction period  was  such  as  to  extinguish  any  desire 
he  might  have  had  in  that  direction.  The  goal  of  the  aspi- 
rations of  the  average  young  lawyer  is  either  wealth  or  a 
seat  upon  the  bench.  As  the  practice  in  North  Carolina 
offered  but  little  hope  of  wealth,  a  judgeship  was  the  prize 
held  in  view  by  most  young  lawyers,  that  is,  in  the  ante 
bellum  days,  when  a  judge  was  a  gentleman,  as  well  as  a 
lawyer,  and  the  highest  type  of  citizen  withal.  But  when, 
during  the  era  of  carpetbagism  and  reconstruction,  the 
office  of  judge  was  disgraced  and  degraded  by  ignorance, 
stupidity,  drunkenness,  coarseness  and  personal  and  official 
uncleanliness,  every  self-respecting  lawyer  who  had  ever 
entertained  a  hope  or  desire  to  become  a  judge,  at  once 
flung  away  that  ambition  and  abandoned  the  idea  of  putting 
on  the  soiled  ermine.  It  is  said  that  men's  ambition  is  con- 
trolled in  a  degree  by  their  inherent  qualities  and  aptitudes, 
and  Vance,  aside  from  the  repulsive  circumstances  above 
referred  to,  felt,  no  doubt,  that  he  was  not  cut  out  for  a 
judge.  He  practiced  law,  as  he  said  himself,  for  a  living 
and  just  for  pastime.  But  still  he  made  it  interesting  for 
himself  and  all  concerned,  and  at  times  very  lively  for 
those  interested  in  opposition  to  him.  He  had  little  fancy 
for  the  Supreme  Court  practice,  and  rarely  attended  its 
sessions.  Too  much  precise  and  technical  learning  was 
necessary.  He  could  not  endure  fetters  of  any  kind,  hence 
he  would  attend  the  county  courts   and   wrestle   before  the 


Il8  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

juries  in  Gaston  and  Union  counties,  and  send  his  partner 
to  the  Supreme  Court.  His  bouts  with  the  old  county 
courts  of  ]\Iecklenburg  were  famous.  The  chairman  of  that 
court,  John  Walker,  Sr.,  though  not  a  lawyer  (none  of  the 
court  were  lawyers),  was  a  man  of  dignity  and  strong  com- 
mon sense.  Vance  did  not  always  please  the  old  gentleman 
in  the  management  of  his  cases.  The  court  must  preserve 
its  dignity,  and  it  was  not  at  all  times  clear  whether  Vance 
was  making  fun  of  the  court  or  not.  But  Walker  was 
spirited,  he  was  good  grit,  though  it  must  be  admitted  he 
had  a  tough  customer  in  Vance,  who  seemed  to  take  pride 
in  going  to  the  very  verge  of  being  disrespectful  to  the 
court  without  being  quite  so  in  fact.  Many  amusing  pas- 
sages at  arms  took  place  between  the  chairman  and  the 
lawyer.  x\mong  them  the  noted  one,  when  Walker  threat- 
ened Vance  with  a  fine  for  showing  disrespect  for  the  court, 
and  Vance  replied  that  he  had  been  trying  his  best  not  to 
show  his  contempt  for  the  court.  But  good  old  John 
Walker  went  to  his  long  home  many  years  before  Vance, 
and  it  were  better  for  Mecklenburg  county  and  for  the 
world,  in  fact,  if  more  such  men  as  old  John  Walker,  with 
or  without  a  Vance  to  tease  and  worry  him,  had  lived  and 
died  within  it.     Pax  vobisciiin. 

After  the  Senate  had  refused  to  admit  him  on  his  first  elec- 
tion, and  after  his  defeat  by  Judge  Merrimon  two  years  later, 
he  returned  to  the  practice  of  the  law  with  manifest  reluc- 
tance. His  depression  was  conspicuous  and  was  the  subject 
of  anxiety  and  remark  among  his  friends.  But  the  elas- 
ticity of  his  nature  soon  took  a  rebound  and  the  restoration 
of  his  normal  condition  ensued,  till  not  long  afterwards 
he  was  again  and  finally  called  to  the  performance  of  his 
arduous,  distinguished  and  patriotic  labors  for  a  third  term 
as  Governor,  and  then  for  three  terms  in  succession  as 
United  States  Senator. 


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LIFE  OF  VANCE.  II9 


CHAPTER  X. 

PERSONAL    AND    GENERAL    DESCRIPTION. 

Anecdote  Showing  General  Clingman's  Estimate  of  Him  as  a  Stump 
Speaker — Fond  of  Reading  the  Bible — Visit  to  Army  of  Virginia 
While  Governor — General  Lee's  Estimate  of  Him — Habits  of  Mind 
and  Thought — Phrase-Making — His  Own  Estimate  of  his  Power  as 
Public  Speaker — His  Style,  Voice,  Appearance,  Height,  Weight, 
Lameness — Characteristics  of  His  Public  Speeches — Strength  of 
Character — Affections  as  Father,  Husband  and  Brother — Social 
Charms — Uprightness  of  Character — Jokes  on  Himself — Where  He 
Came  Out  Second  Best — Dr.  Warren's  Estimate  of  Him — What  Dr. 
Boykin  Says — His  Profound  Respect  for  the  Bible  and  Its  Pre- 
cepts— Extracts  from  His  Speech  at  Wake  Forest  College  and  from 
Other  Speeches  and  Letters. 

HLMOST  immediately  after  leaving  college  Vance  was 
elected  county  attorney  for  his  native  county,  and  soon 
afterwards,  to-wit:  in  1854,  was  elected  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture. He  practiced  law  in  the  meantime  in  Buncombe  and  the 
adjoining  counties,  and  by  his  popular  manners,  personal 
attractiveness,  his  ability  as  a  lawyer  and  natural  gifts  as  a 
public  speaker,  he  so  impressed  himself  upon  the  people 
that  in  1858  he  was  elected  to  Congress  as  a  Whig  and 
American,  overcoming  a  very  large  Democratic  majorit}'  in 
the  district,  and  defeating  a  very  able  and  popular  man, 
W.  W.  Avery. 

Gen.  Clingman,  who  had  represented  that  district  in  the 
lower  house  of  Congress,  and  had  but  recently  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  United  States  Senate,  told  the  following 
incident,  illustrating  the  great  power  and  ingenuity  of  Vance 
as  a  public  speaker.  Vance  was  on  what  was  called  the 
"Know-Nothing"  side.  Avery,  of  course,  opposing.  The 
Know-Nothing  part}'  had  reached  the  acme  of  its  strength 
and  had  begun  to  wane,  and  about  that  time  was  the  subject 


I20  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

of  a  good  deal  of  ridicule.  Clingman  being  at  home,  drove 
out  in  his  buggy  to  hear  the  candidates  who  had  an  appoint- 
ment nearby.  On  his  way  back  a  group  of  country  people 
rode  up  behind  him,  and  being  well  acquainted  with  him, 
and  also  being  Democrats  and  anti-Know-Nothings,  asked 
him  what  he  thought  of  the  speaking.  Clingman,  not  being 
very  well  pleased  with  the  way  his  side  had  fared  in  the  discus- 
sion, said  :  "  Well,  Avery  made  but  few  points,  and  didn't 
make  them  very  well,  while  Vance,  with  his  jokes  and  non- 
sense, seemed  to  carry  the  crowd."  At  this  the  men 
galloped  by,  one  of  them  yelling  at  the  top  of  his  voice  : 
"  Didn't  Vance  give  them  Know-Nothings  h — 11  ?"  "  And 
that  is  the  way  it  was,"  said  Clingman.  "  Vance  told  so 
many  anecdotes  and  made  so  much  fun  about  Know-Notlr 
ingism,  that  one  half  the  crowd  thought  Avery  was  the 
Know-Nothing." 

While  Vance  was  Governor,  he  frequently  visited  the 
North  Carolina  soldiers  in  Virginia.  On  one  occasion  he 
was  invited  to  address  the  soldiers,  most  of  whom  were 
Virginians  and  North  Carolinians.  He  had  many  good 
things  to  say  in  his  speech  about  Virginia  and  the  Vir- 
ginians, giving  them  so  much  praise  in  fact  that  the 
Virginia  soldiers  were  doing  nearly  all  the  cheering  and 
shouting,  while  the  North  Carolinians  were  correspondingly 
depressed,  feeling  that  they  ought  to  hear  from  their  own 
Governor  at  least  some  words  of  comfort  and  commenda- 
tion. He  said  the  Virginians  seemed  to  be  born  leaders, 
they  led  well  in  everything,  so  much  so  that  the  North 
Carolinians  are  always  glad  to  follow,  "and,"  he  added, 
turning  to  his  own  troops  with  a  merry  twinkle  of  the  eyes, 
"  it  was  well  we  did  follow  you  and  keep  close  up  to  you, 
too,  for  if  we  hadn't  those  heavy  battles  around  Richmond 
of  the  last  few  weeks  would  have  been  mere  skirmishes." 
This  brought  a  yell  from  the  Tar  Heels  and  transferred  the 
long  faces  to  the  Virginians. 

But  his  sharp  thrusts  and  witty  sayings   were   the  orna- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  •  121 

meiits,  the  trimmings  and  frills  of  his  speeches,  which  had 
also  snbstance  and  solidity,  body  and  soul.  He  possessed 
a  large  store  of  useful  and  practical  knowledge.  If  not  a 
methodical  and  slavish  student,  his  mind  was  never  idle  ;  he 
was  no  dreamer,  but  was  always  in  pursuit  of  some  special 
or  general  information  of  a  practical  nature. 

He  was  not  a  great  reader  of  fiction,  though  occasionally 
enjoyed  reading  a  good  story  and  was  pretty  well  versed  in 
Scott,  Dickens  and  other  standard  works.  He  was  a  great 
reader  of  the  Bible  and  was  fond  of  old  Bible  history.  It 
was  the  love  of  this  sort  of  literature  which  led  to  the  pro- 
duction of  his  great  essay,  "  The  Scattered  Nationi."  He  "^ 
did  not  read  the  Bible  by  snatches,  as  a  good  many  people 
do,  but  he  read  it  by  subjects  and  periods,  frequently  perus- 
ing it  for  hours  at  a  time.  He  had  special  admiration  of 
the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  and  was  fond  of  reading  and  quot- 
ing what  he  termed  the  great  apostle's  "  chop  logic."  He 
esteemed  St.  Paul  as  not  only  a  great  logician,  but  also  a 
man  of  extensive  general  learning  and  wisdom.  Paul's 
letters  and  epistles,  he  has  been  heard  to  say,  were  in  many 
essential  respects  the  most  valuable  contribution  to  the 
literature  of  the  world  that  had  ever  been  derived  from  a 
single  source,  and  that  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  the 
embodiment  of  all  the  religion  necessary  for  the  salvation 
of  the  world. 

He  had  profound  respect  for  sacred  things.  Beneath 
the  surface  of  his  buoyant  and  sportive  disposition  there 
was  a  deep  current  of  thoughtful  and  serious  reflection. 
Even  before  he  joined  the  church  he  recognized  and  often 
spoke  of  the  elevating  and  refining  influence  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  not  only  upon  the  civilization  of  the  age,  but 
also  upon  the  lives  and  conduct  of  individuals.  Although 
he  sometimes  quoted  Scripture  in  his  speeches  and  conver- 
sation in  a  way  that  called  forth  criticism  from  preachers 
and  other  serious  persons,  still  he  was  not  irreverent,  and 
could  not  even  tolerate  in  others  anvthinor  that  smacked  of 


/ 


122  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

sacrilege  or  mockery  of  divine  things.  After  he  joined  the 
church  he  was  an  earnest  and  consistent  Christian,  and 
took  genuine  pleasure  in  attending  upon  the  ordinances  of 
divine  worship.  But  moroseness  and  gloom  had  no  place 
in  his  household  of  faith.  His  religion  was  not  puritanical 
or  ascetic.  He  believed  life  still  had  pleasures  not  incon- 
sistent with  real  Christianity. 

He  believed  in  storing  the  mind  with  general  knowledge 
rather  than  pursuing  special  branches.  He  was  broad- 
gauge  in  everything,  including  the  pursuit  of  knowledge. 
He  never  lost  anything  by  lapse  of  memory  ;  once  in  pos- 
session of  an  important  fact,  it  was  always  at  his  hand  ready 
for  use.  His  speeches  in  the  Senate  and  his  addresses 
were,  for  the  most  part,  elaborately  prepared,  but  his  great 
and  numerous  campaign  speeches  were  almost  entirely 
extemporaneous.  He  has  been  heard  to  say  he  did  his  best 
thinking  on  his  feet,  and  that  his  strongest  arguments  and 
his  most  apt  and  forcible  illustrations  were  suggested  by 
the  occasion  and  were  of  the  inspiration  of  the  moment. 
In  all  his  speeches  and  addresses,  whether  prepared  or 
extemporaneous,  his  great  object  was  to  reach  the  under- 
standing and  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  rather  than  to  please 
their  fancy.  Hence  he  did  not  strive  for  that  Cicironean 
polish  of  elocution  and  those  classic  models  of  style  which 
so  much  engrossed  the  minds  of  Wirt  and  Patrick  Henry, 
of  an  earlier  da}^,  and  of  Ed  Graham  Haywood  and  Dan'l 
G.  Fowle,  of  his  own  time,  and  yet  he  wrote  some  of  the 
most  beautiful,  graphic  and  polished  specimens  of  composi- 
tion to  be  found  in  the  English  language,  notably  his 
descriptions  of  the  mountains  and  mountain  scenery  of 
North  Carolina. 

He  was  constantly  surprising  those  who  thought  they 
knew  him  best.  It  was  impossible  for  any  one  to  fully 
understand  and  ajDpreciate  the  scope  and  power  of  his 
intellectual  and  moral  forces.  Even  those  who  were  close 
to  him    and    heard    him    discuss    important   questions    in 


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LIFK   OF    VANCE.  123 

private,  were  as  much  amazed  and  electrified  by  the  origin- 
ality and  brilliancy  of  his  arguments  and  by  the  resistless 
potency  of  his  personal  magnetism  at  the  bar  and  on  the 
stump  as  any  of  his  hearers.  No  man  could  imitate  him; 
he  was  emphatically  siii  generis.  Many  speakers  tried  to 
ape  him,  and  many  dismal  failures  were  the  consequence. 
His  stories  were  in  everybody's  mouth,  but  no  one  could 
tell  tliem  as  he  did.  Some  of  his  anecdotes  were  a  little 
shady^  but  such  were  generally  relieved  and  made  palatable 
by  the  magnetic  and  brilliant  manner  of  their  recital.  Some 
of  these  when  attempted  to  be  told  by  men  who  had  neither 
tact  nor  wit,  became  disgusting.  ]\Iany  stories  were  at- 
tributed to  him  which  he  probably  never  heard  and 
would  never  have  told  on  account  of  their  insipidity. 
Speakers  would  often  attempt  to  sweeten  a  joke  by  saying- 
it  is  "Vance's  latest." 

Phrase-making  is  said  to  be  an  attribute  of  genius. 
Shakspeare  has  given  to  our  language  more  puns,  bon 
mots,  epigrams  and  peculiar  phrases  than  any  man  who 
ever  lived.  Many  of  his  expressions  are  embedded  in  our 
language,  and  are  used  by'  thousands  who  never  read  a  line 
which  he  or  any  one  else  wrote  and  perhaps  never  heard  of 
him.  The  same  is  true,  though  in  a  very  limited  degree, 
of  ]\Iilton,  Addison,  Dickens  and  others.  President  Cleve- 
land has  formulated  some  phrases  which  have  attained  great 
currency  and  are  likely  to  be  perpetuated,  such  as  "  innoc- 
uous desuetude,"  "pernicious  partisanship,"  "a  public 
office  is  a  public  trust,"  etc.  Judged  by  this  test,  Vance 
was  a  transcendent  genius.  Unless  we  except  Lincoln, 
Vance  gave  expression  and  currency  to  more  puns,  witti- 
cisms, anecdotes  and  epigrams  than  any  man  who  has  lived 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  century.  Everybody  can  repeat 
something  good  that  Vance  said. 

His  personality  was  not  only  strong  and  exceedingly  at- 
tractive but  overwhelming.  He  was  the  lion  of  every 
occasion  and  the  center   of  attraction  without  a  rival  in 


124  WFE   OF   VANCE. 

every  group  and  company  where  he  was  to  be  found. 
He  was  greater  than  his  own  words  and  speeches  and 
his  presence  was  always  inspiring.  It  is  an  interesting 
coincidence  that  Wellington  estimated  the  presence  of 
Napoleon  at  an  engagement  as  equivalent  to  fifty  thou- 
sand additional  troops,  and  General  Lee  remarked  upon 
the  occasion  of  Vance's  visit  and  speech  to  the  army  of 
Virginia,  that  '"they  were  equivalent  to  a  reinforcement  of 
50,000  men." 

The  following  extract  is  taken  from  an  article  written 
by  a  member  of  Governor  Vance's  staff  and  published  in 
Congressman  Woodard's  eulogy,  delivered  in  the  House 
of  Representatives: 

Among  the  most  pleasant  incidents  of  my  service  as  a  member  of 
the  Governor's  staff  was  a  visit  which  I  made  with  him  to  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  in  the  winter  of  1863.  He  was  then  a  candidate  for 
re-election  to  the  gubernatorial  chair,  and  was  being  opposed  by  the 
party  proclaiming  itself  for  "peace  and  reconstruction"  on  any 
terms  ;  and  though  the  ostensible  object  of  his  visit  was  to  advance 
his  political  fortunes,  its  real  object  was  to  rekindle  the  fires  of  pa- 
triotism in  the  hearts  of  the  North  Carolina  troops  and  to  cheer  and 
stimulate  the  entire  army. 

General  Lee  ordered  a  general  review  in  his  honor — an  incident  I 
believe  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  army.  Upon  an  immense 
plain  near  Orange  Court  House,  there  were  assembled  the  troops 
which  composed  the  then  unconquered  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 
*  *  *  Jackson,  Longstreet,  Stuart,  Early,  Ewell,  Hill,  Rhodes, 
Gordon,  Hampton,  Pettigrew  and  Fitzhugh  Lee  were  there  to  do 
honor  to  Carolina's  illustrious  son. 

Arranged  in  two  confronting  lines,  the  noble  veterans  awaited  the 
coming  of  the  old  chieftain  and  the  youthful  Governor.  Finally  the 
cannons  boomed  and  General  Lee  and  Governor  Vance  appeared,  and, 
amid  storms  of  enthusiastic  cheers,  rode  slowly  along  the  excited  lines. 

Soon  as  the  review  was  ended  the  men  and  officers  came  crowding 
around  the  elevated  platform  which  had  been  prepared  for  the  ora- 
tor, and  for  two  hours  they  gave  him  their  most  earnest  attention. 
The  day  was  truly  a  proud  one  for  North  Carolina  and  her  gifted  son, 
and  a  more  appropriate,  effective  and  eloquent  address  was  never 
uttered  by  human  lips.  Under  the  influence  of  his  varied  im&gery, 
his  happy  and  graphic  illustrations,  his  stirring  appeals  and  deep 
pathos,  his  masterly  grasp  and  inner  meaning,  trenchant 
thrusts  and   touching  allusions   and,    in    a     word,  under    his    mag- 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  1 25 

nificent  and  resistless  eloquence,  the  audience  was  stirred, 
enraptured,  enthused  and  carried  away  as  if  by  the  spell  of  a 
magician.  Not  a  man.  who  heard  the  impassioned  outburst  of  patriotic 
inspiration  would  have  hesitated  to  die  for  his  country.  If  aught  of 
lukewarmness  or  despondency  had  been  produced  by  the  machina- 
tions of  a  selfish  faction  at  home,  they  vanished  as  the  morning  mist 
before  the  rising  sun  under  the  spell  of  this  good  man's  matchless 
eloquence.  I  heard  General  Lee  remark  that  Governor  Vance's  visit 
to  the  army  had  been  equivalent  to  its  reinforcement  by  50,000  men, 
and  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart  said  of  it,  "  if  the  test  of  eloquence  is  its 
effect,  this  speech  was  the  most  eloquent  ever  delivered." 

Brave,  self-reliant  and  enthusiastic  himself,  he  always 
aroused  these  qualities  in  his  listeners.  He  has  been 
heard  to  say  of  his  political  campaigns  that  he  did  not 
know  he  had  ever  changed  a  vote  by  his  speeches,  but 
what  he  sought  to  accomplish,  and  what  he  thought  he 
did  accomplish,  was  to  inspire  confidence,  arouse  enthusiasm 
and  stimulate  among  his  party  friends  an  increase  of  zeal 
and  activity. 

He  was  exceedingly  handsome  of  form  and  feature  ; 
nearly  six  feet  tall,  he  weighed  at  his  prime  about  230 
pounds.  His  right  leg  had  been  shortened  by  a  fracture 
caused  by  a  fall  from  an  apple  tree  when  quite  a  small  boy, 
which  required  him  to  wear  a  high  heel  upon  the  right 
shoe.  This  gave  him  a  peculiar  and  slightly  ambling  gait; 
his  right  knee  bent  outward  when  walking,  and  that  gave 
him  the  appearance  at  a  distance  of  being  bow-legged,  but 
he  was  net  so.  His  chest  was  full  and  heavy,  his  neck  short 
and  thick,  and  his  large  and  v,'ell-shaped  head  was  crowned 
with  a  graceful  suit  of  thick  and  glossy  hair,  which  grew 
well  down  upon  his  forehead  and  temples  ;  his  arms  were 
long  and  his  hands  uncommonly  white  and  shapely.  His 
voice,  though  not  at  all  cultivated,  was  soft  and  flexible, 
and  when  elevated,  exceedingly  pungent  and  thrilling. 
His  personality  was  so  engaging  that  all  eyes  were  riveted 
upon  him  wherever  he  made  his  appearance,  and  his  list- 
eners gazed  at  him  with  tireless  and  ever  increasing 
admiration  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  longest 


126  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

speeches  and  lectures.  As  Pitt,  the  younger,  said  to  the 
Frenchman  who  expressed  surprise  at  the  immense  influ- 
ence of  Fox  :  "  To  hear  him  was  to  be  under  the  wand  of 
the  magician."  He  possessed  amplitude  of  mind  and  rich- 
ness of  imagination,  and  that  high  order  of  eloquence 
which  consists  of  reason  and  passion  fused  together.  He 
could  present  a  clear,  popular  and  plausible  view  of  the 
most  complicated  questions.  Intricate  subjects  of  finance 
and  tariff  he  could  make  clear  to  the  plainest  man  among 
his  hearers. 

And  yet  he  never  strayed  from  the  paths  of  his  own 
thoughts  to  cull  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  other  men's 
rhetoric.  He  was  no  imitator  in  any  sense,  no  borrower 
or  copyist.  The  glittering  antithises  of  Macaulay  did  not 
tempt  him,  nor  wdiat  has  been  called. the  diamond  breast- 
pin of  Disraeli  or  the  velvet  coat  of  Dickens.  He  cared 
not  for  a  well  turned  phrase  except  as  it  served  to 
give  point  and  emphasis  to  a  thought  or  an  argument. 
Every  word  was  selected  and  every  sentence  constructed  as 
a  means  to  an  end,  to  establish  a  proposition  or  convince 
the  judgment.  Like  all  truly  great  men,  he  seemed  to 
inhabit  a  higher  sphere  of  thought,  into  which  other  men 
could  not  rise  excej)t  b}'  arduous  labor  and  toil.  His 
amiable  and  playful  turn  of  mind  imparted  inexpressible 
grace  and  delicacy  to  his  language  and  logic.  His  histori- 
cal allusions,  philosophical  deductions,  his  descriptions,  so 
full  of  life  and  nature,  and  his  humorous  raillery  flowed 
alternately  and  without  the  slightest  appearance  of  artifice 
or  effort,  showing  that  simplicity  and  plainness  are  tribu- 
tary to  and  not  incompatible  with  energy  and  effectiveness. 

Macaulay  says  the  effect  of  oratory  depends  to  a  great 
extent  upon  the  character  of  the  orator.  Vance's  oratory 
had  a  rare  flavor  imparted  by  himself.  His  speeches  owed 
a  great  part  of  their  charm  to  the  warmth  and  softness  of 
his  heart,  to  his  admiration  of  everything  noble  and  good,  his 
belief  in  the  right  and  the  capacity  of  the  people  to  govern 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  1 27 

themselves,  and  to  his  hatred  of  all  luaiiiier  of  injustice, 
cruelty,  insincerity,  bigotry,  sham  and  false  pretense.  His 
demeanor  was  always  gracious  and  pleasing ;  never  obtru- 
sive or  offensive. 

Strong  phrases  he  undoubtedly  employed,  but  cutting 
sarcasm,  angry  thrusts  and  personal  ridicule,  which  always 
make  a  speaker  interesting,  being  both  beauties  and  de- 
formities, he  rarely  employed.  He  was  too  manly,  too 
brave  and  too  good  hearted  to  make  a  sinister  attack  or 
strike  beneath  the  belt. 

In  one  of  his  campaigns  during  the  war  a  friend  gave 
him  a  lot  of  things  of  a  rather  scandalous  and  personal 
nature  relating  to  his  opponent.  He  listened  patiently  and 
replied  mildly  but  firmly,  he  "  must  decline  to  use  them. 
Such  charges  ought  never  to  be  brought  against  a  public 
man  in  politics  or  religion." 

A  discriminating  listener  to  one  of  his  great  political 
speeches,  said  he  combined  the  vehemence  and  enthusiasm 
of  Pinckney  with  the  impressiveness  and  majesty  of  Web- 
ster. Although  acuteness,  ingenuity  and  wit  showed 
through  all  his  speeches,  they  were  so  employed  as  never 
to  impair  the  athletic  vigor  of  his  arguments.  Though 
possessing  a  strong  and  prolific  imagination,  his  language 
was  rarely  decked  with  flowers,  but  was  rather  character- 
ized by  opulence  of  thought  and  intenseness  of  expression, 
choice  and  felicitous  phrases,  beautiful  and  startling 
images,  searching  analysis,  simple  and  unadorned  pathos, 
sympathy  with  nature  and  humanity,  illuminating  the  un- 
derstanding of  his  hearers  and  investing  them  with  some- 
thing of  his  own  enthusiasm  and  greatness.  His  style  was 
always  dramatic  and  original.  He  delighted  in  sharp  con- 
trasts. The  homely  and  the  magnificent  (in  imagery)  closely 
following  each  other,  grotesqueness  and  mimicry  in  one 
sentence,  thrilling  and  inspiring  words  and  ideas  in  the 
next.     His  audiences  were  always  highly   appreciative  and 


128  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

sympathetic,  and  he  could  move    them  from    laughter    to 
tears  and  from  tears  to  laughter  in  rapid  succession. 

He  had  plenty  of  self-esteem,  but  it  was  not  that  of  one 
inflated  by  popular  applause  or  indiscriminate  praise,  but 
only  that  of  the  man  conscious  of  right  motives  and  honest 
purposes.  He  has  been  heard  to  say  every  man  should 
have  self-esteem  and  pride  enough  to  keep  out  of  bad  com- 
pany. He  undoubtedly  had  ambition,  but  it  was  of  that 
higher  sort  that  comes  from  a  desire  to  earn  promotion  by 
doing  good,  and  it  was  unmixed  with  avarice  or  cupidity. 
He  did  not  crave  wealth,  but  had  a  lofty  disdain  of  riches, 
especially  if  acquired  by  extortion  upon  the  poor  or  by  any 
questionable  methods.  No  man  could  be  more  careful  of 
his  personal  credit  and  more  prompt  to  meet  every  pecuni- 
ary obligation  than  lie  was,  and  yet  the  desire  to  accumulate 
wealth  he  never  possessed  in  the  slightest  degree.  He  had 
tempting  opportunities.  He  was  offered  law-partnerships 
in  Baltimore,  New  York  and  other  place  w^here  lucrative 
business  and  ultimate  wealth  certainly  awaited  him,  but 
they  did  not  tempt  him.  He  put  them  aside  almost  without 
consideration.  He  knew  from  intuition  as  well  as  experi- 
ence that  more  congenial  labors  and  all  the  honors  he  desired 
would  come  to  him  here  in  North  Carolina,  which  he  loved 
with  all  the  ardor  and  constancy  of  a  troubadour. 

He  engaged  the  affections  of  the  people  by  the  upright- 
ness of  his  personal  and  official  conduct,  by  the  blameless- 
ness  of  his  private  life,  the  placability  and  gentleness  of  his 
disposition  and  by  the  warmth  of  his  private  and  domestic 
attachments. 

As  husband,  father,  brother,  son,  he  was  devoted,"  tender 
and  exceedingly  affectionate,  while  among  his  associates 
he  was  cordial,  playful,  easy,  companionable  and  lovable, 
and  to  his  friends  the  very  soul  of  loyalty  and  devotion. 

Dr.  Edward  Warren,  who  was  on  Gov.  Vance's  staff  as 
surgeon  general  during  the  war,  and  who,  of  course,  knew 
him  most  intimately,  has  put  on    record   in    his  valuable 


LTFK    OF   VANCK.  129 

book  "  A  Doctor's  Experiences  in  Three  Continents,"  the 
following  estimate  of  Vance's  character  and  qnalities  :  "  In 
my  jndgment,  no  nobler  man  than  Zebulon  Baird  Vance 
was  ever  created  ;  with  an  inherent  kindness  of  heart  which 
tempers  and  softens  his  entire  natnre  ;  a  respect  for  jnstice 
and  right  which  asserts  itself  nnder  all  possible  circum- 
stances ;  a  sense  of  the  ridiculous  from  which  well  out  a 
stream  of  humor  at  once  copious,  sparkling  and  exhaust- 
less,  and  ah  intellect  which,  like  some  great  oak  of  the 
forest,  is  at  once  a  '  tower  of  strength '  and  a  '  thing  of 
beauty,'  now  bracing  the  hurricane  breath  and  then  adorn- 
ing the  landscape  by  its  grandeur,  its  symmetry  and  its 
verdure.  I  have  anal3'zed  his  heart  from  core  to  covering, 
and  I  know  that  in  its  every  cell  and  fibre  it  is  of  the  purest 
gold,  without  tlie  trace  of  alloy  or  a   taint    of  counterfeit." 

Dr.  Thos.  J,  Boykin,  now  of  Baltimore,  who  was  surgeon 
of  Vance's  regiment,  and  a  life  long  friend  and  admirer,  in 
a  letter  under  date  July  29,  1896,  says  :  "  The  best  and  most 
eloquent,  effective  and  practical  speech  I  ever  ^  heard  any 
one  deliver  was  the  one  he  (Vance)  made  in  camp  at  the 
end  of  the  first  year  his  regiment  had  enlisted  for,  when 
they  were  all  paid  off  and  given  each  a  new  suit  and  were 
at  liberty  to  go  home,  if  they  wished.  And  many  of  them 
expected  to  do  so.  He  called  the  men  together,  formed 
them  in  a  hollow  square  and  mounted  a  box  and  made  an 
appeal  to  them  to  remain  in  the  field  and  defend  and  pro- 
tect the  homes  of  their  fathers  and  mothers  in  the  most 
impressive  and  burning  language  I  ever  listened  to  in  all 
my  life.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  speech  the  drum  sounded 
and  eve7'y  man  in  the  regiment  marched  up  and  re-enlisted 
for  the  war,  and  many  of  the  old  gray  headed  fathers  pres- 
ent, with  tears  in  their  eyes,  offered  to  follow  their  sons, 
whom  they  an  hour  before  expected  to  take  home  with 
them." 

He  was  as  charming  in  his  social  intercourse  as  upon-the 

stump  or  at  the  bar,  if  not  more  so.  Gay  and  facetious  in  de- 
10        ' 


130  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

portment,  he  was  the  soul  of  life  and  merriment  for  any 
company  in  which  he  was  to  be  found.  That  fascinatmg 
quality  known  as  personal  magnetism,  so  conspicuous  and 
potent  in  his  public  and  official  career,  was  even  more  per- 
ceptible in  his  every  day  intercourse  with  his  friends  and 
associates.  His  presence  was  indeed  the  magician's  wand 
to  put  a  spell  on  every  one  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
As  he  passed  along  the  streets  all  eyes  were  turned  upon 
him,  and  little  boys  and  girls  would  stop  to  look  at  him, 
with  smiles  of  admiration.  When  he  entered  the  court 
room,  the  business,  however  important,  would  be  tempo- 
rarily suspended  and  every  eye  of  judge,  lawyer,  juror 
and  bystander  would  play  upon  him  and  nearly  every  face 
be  wreathed  in  smiles ;  all  were  ready  to  applaud  vocifer- 
ously any  remark,  motion  or  signal  he  might  make. 

At  a  State  convention  held  at  Greensboro  in  1872,  when 
Merrimon  was  nominated  for  Governor,  Vance  with  others 
appeared  upon  the  rostrum  arranging  preliminaries.  The 
crowd  went  wild  at  the  sight  of  Vance  and  the  deafening 
calls  for  him  obstructed  all  business.  He  came  to  the  front 
and  waving  down  the  crowd  who  had  risen  to  their  tip- 
toes, implored  them  to  be  patient,  assuring  them  that  only 
preliminaries  were  being  arranged  and  that  "as  soon  as  the 
lines  of  battle  were  formed  the  skirmishers  would  be  called 
in  and  the  regular  firing  would  begin."  Many  of  the  dele- 
gates being  old  soldiers,  this  was  a  happy  hit,  and  it  tickled 
the  audience  thoroughly.  A  country  delegate  was  heard 
to  remark  as  the  applause  subsided:  "I'll  be  d — d  if  he 
can  oj^en  his  mouth  without  saying  something  good." 

He  had  a  keen  sense  of  humor  and  rarely  allowed  an 
occasion  for  a  joke  to  pass.  While  Governor,  during  the 
war,  he  called  out  the  Home  Guard  Militia,  directing  that 
they  be  assembled  at  the  several  county  court  houses  on  a 
date  several  days  subsequent  to  the  order.  A  certain  col- 
onel in  a  county  not  far  from  Raleigh,  in  order  to  appear 
to  be  very  laconic  and  prompt,  telegraphed  to  \'ance  a  few 


LIFR  OF  VANCE.  I31 

hours  after  the  receipt  of  the  order,  and  of  course  before  he 
had  made  any  move  towards  getting  together  his  men  who 
were  scattered  all  over  the  county  :  "Ready  in  W."  Vance 
seeing  how  utterly  ridiculous  this  was,  and  quick  to  seize 
the  opportunity  for  a  joke,  sent  back  a  reply  as  follows: 

Headquarters,  Raleigh,  ,  1864. 

To  Colonel Coviinanding  Home  Guard: 

Fire  !  Z.  B.  VANCE. 

The  Colonel  received  this  telegram  and  did  not  under- 
stand it — thought  there  must  be  a  mistake  or  a  misprint, 
or  perhaps  the  city  of  Raleigh  was  burning.  His  friends 
were  consulted,  and  on  calling  for  the  original  to  which 
this  was  a  reply,  saw  the  joke,  and  it  was  many  a  day  before 
the  redoubtable  Colonel  heard  the  last  of  it. 

Even  his  own  afidctions  were  made  the  occasion  of  mer- 
riment and  jest.  Soon  after  the  loss  of  his  eye,  he  came  to 
Charlotte  and  related  an  interview,  while  here,  with  an  old 
friend  and  client  from  the  country  who  called  upon  him. 
The  old  gentleman  was  very  much  concerned  about  the  loss 
of  the  eye,  and  asked  many  questions  as  to  the  process  of 
taking  out  the  diseased  ball  and  putting  in  the  artificial  one. 
Finally,  looking  the  Senator  straight  in  the  face,  he  said  : 
"  Vance,  which  is  the  artificial  eye  ?"  Upon  being  informed, 
he  seemed  to  take  a  still  more  scrutinizing  view  and  then 
said  :  "  Well,  I  be  durned  if  I  don't  believe  it's  a  better 
looking  eye  than  the  other." 

_He  was  especially  fond  of  telling  anecdotes  on  himself, 
when  they  represented  him  as  coming  out  second  best  in 
the  tilt.    The  following  are  specimens  : 

While  he  lived  at  Charlotte,  an  old  gentleman  from  the 
country  came  to  his  office  to  see  him.  He  said,  "  Gov- 
ernor, I  have  come  several  miles  jist  o'  purpose  to  see 
you  and  git  acquainted  with  you.  I  have  heerd  of  you  for 
many  years  and  have  wanted  to  see  you  mighty  bad.  I'll 
die  better  satisfied  because  I've  got  to  see  you.     I've  heerd 


*  i 

132  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

a  good  deal  of  your  brother  Bob,  too,  and  I've  always  heerd 
he  had  the  best  keeracter  of  the  two." 

A  friend  said  to  him  on  one  occasion,  "  Vance,  I  do  not 
understand  how  it  is  that  }ou  and  your  brother  Bob  belong 
to  different  churches  f  You  a  Presbyterian,  and  he  a  ]\Ieth- 
odist."  ■  That  is  a  little  queer,  said  Vance,  but  a  stranger 
thing  than  that  is  that  Bob  believes  in  the  doctrine  of  fall- 
ing from  grace  and  never  falls,  while  I  do  not  believe  in  the 
possibility  of  falling  from  grace,  but  am  always  falling." 

One  day  having  some  business  with  an  old  colored  man, 
he  asked  his  brother  in  black,  "  Uncle,  do  you  belong  to 
the  Church?"  The  man  replied,  "  Yes,  Boss,  thank  the 
Lord."  "  What  Church  do  you  belong  to  ?"  "  To  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,"  replied  the  darkey,  "Uncle,  do  you 
believe  in  election  ?"  "  O,  yes,  Boss.  I  believes  in 
election."  "  Well,  Uncle,  do  you  think  you  are  elected?" 
said  Vance.  "  Yes,  Boss,  thank  the  Lord,  I  thinks  I 
am,"  said  the  darkey.  "Well,  Uncle,  do  you  think  I'm 
elected?"  inquired  Vance.  "I'd  never  heerd,  Boss,  as 
how  you  was  a  candidate,"  replied  the  colored  brother 
candidly. 

This  conversation  occurred  before  Vance  had  become  a 
professor  of  religion,  that  is  to  say,  before  he  became  a  can- 
didate for  election. 

A  statesman  must  be  more  or  less  a  politician  ;  and  a 
politician  must  be  more  or  less  politic,  to  retain  his  influ- 
ence in  politics.  Vance  was  bold  enough  when  duty 
required  him  to  take  a  stand.  To  declare  himself  a  pro- 
hibitionist simply  meant  to  put  some  man  less  competent 
and  less  true  to  good  morals  in  his  place  in  the  Senate, 
without  doing  real  service  to  the  cause  of  good  morals.  It 
simply  meant  political  ostracism  to  himself,  without  any 
compensation  to  the  cause  of  morality.  His  heart  was 
always  with  the  cause  of  temperance  and  religion  ;  but  he 
cultivated  and  practiced  the  conservatism  necessary  to  suc- 
cessful leadership.     When  the  prohibition   excitement  was 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  1 33 

at  its  highest  in  North  Carolina,  some  prohibitionists  came 
to  him  on  a  certain  occasion  and  reqnested  him  to  declare 
publicly  for  prohibition.  He  made  an  adroit  and  evasive 
.  reply:  "Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  My  conscience  is  with  you, 
but  my  stomach  is  on  the  other  side."  This  remark  was,  of 
course,  humorous,  for  his  stomach,  as  a  rule,  harmonized 
with  his  conscience. 

As  proof  that  Vance's  sportive  disposition  and  his  pro- 
pensity to  jest,  at  times  even  in  what  others  thought  serious 
matters,  did  not  originate  in  any  want  of  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  sacred  things,  and  to  show  his  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  Bible  and  the  Christian  religion,  the  following 
extract  taken  from  an  address  he  delivered  at  Wake  Forest 
College  June  26,  1872,  will  be  read  with  interest: 

Remember,  too — and  this  above  all— that  there  is  no  progress,  no 
development,  no  increase,  worthy  of  your  efforts  to  attain,  unless  it 
be  conceived  in  the  fear  of  your  Creator. 

There  is  doubtless  sopie  infidelity  among  you,  as  in  all  other 
colleges.  I  know  well  how  it  is.  When  young  minds  are  thoroughly  im- 
bued with  the  Pagan  classics,  and  come  first  to  exercise  their  powers 
of  reason,  the  desire  is  to  test  them  upon  every  subject,  and  especially 
upon  the  received  creeds  of  religion,  attacking  them  with  almost  a 
savage  delight.  A  spell  of  scepticism  comes  upon  the  young  Senior 
and  the  young  graduate  as  naturally  as  the  spell  of  love  ere  long,  or 
as  the  measles  in  childhood.  He  reads  and  perforce  admires  Hume, 
Ballingbroke,  Gibbon,  Voltaire,  and  thoughts  present  themselves 
which  he  imagines  never  before,  since  the  world  began,  entered  the 
mind  of  man.  He  has  thus  made  a  discovery — it  seems  clear  to  him  ; 
and  he  wonders  at  the  hypocrisy  or  stupidity  of  preaching  and  priest- 
craft. He  wants  the  world  to  know  that  /le,  at  least,  is  not  to  be  de- 
luded with  cunningly-devised  fables  of  Hebrews— Jews  !— and  old 
wives'  tales.  It  sounds  so  large,  too,  to  differ  with  everybody  else. 
It  smacks  of  genius.  He  is  strongly  tempted  by  the  glittering  fallacies 
of  materialism  to  forsake  the  simple  faith  of  the  fathers— aye,  his  ozvn 
kind  father  and  anxious  mother. 

But  be  not  deceived.  We  all  know  that  "  reason  is  but  a  sorry  guide 
even  in  the  affairs  of  this  world,  and  so,  in  those  of  the  next,  must  be 
altogether  rash  and  ruinous."  The  greatest  intellects  of  the  world 
have  had  all  the  doubts  and  suggestions  you  have  thought  new  and  pe- 
culiar to  yourselves;  they  have  sounded  all  the  depths  and  shallows  of 
human  scepticism,  and  have  found  it  worse  than  folly.  None  can 
escape  the  conviction  of  the  existence  of  a  beneficent   God — the  grain 


134  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

of  corn,  the  blade  of  grass,  the  flower  and  the  forest,  the  seas  and  the 
heavens — all  and  everything,  proclaim  and  prove  that  in  spite  of  us  ; 
and,  if  the  Bible  be  not  a  revelation  of  His  will  concerning  us  and  the 
things  inscrutable  to  sense,  then  he  has  never  made  one,  but  has  left 
us  utterly  and  miserably  ignorant  of  the  nature  and  wants  of  that 
inner  and  higher  consciousness  we  all  feel,  call  it  the  soul  or  hy  what- 
ever other  name  you  will. 

There  is  no  book  so  God-like  as  the  Bible.  There  is  none  other 
w^hich  has  in  it  so  little  of  the  earth,  earth}'. 

Dismiss,  my  dear  young  friends,  if  you  have  them,  all  such  ideas 
as  those  I  have  described,  as  sceptical  and  natural  to  you  ;  and  go  forth 
to  your  positions  in  the  world  strong  in  the  faith  of  that  God  from 
whom  Cometh  every  good  thing  ;  all  true  progress,  all  civilization,  all 
genuine  freedom,  all  desirable  wisdom  ?  "  Whence  then  cometh 
wisdom  ?  And  where  is  the  place  of  understanding  ?  Seeing  it  is  hid 
from  the  eyes  of  all  living,  and  kept  close  from  the  fowls  of  the  air. 
Destruction  and  death  say,  we  have  heard  the  fame  thereof  with  our 
ears.  The  depth  saith,  it  is  not  in  me  ;  and  the  sea  saith,  it  is  not 
with  me.  God  understandeth  the  way  thereof,  and  he  knoweth  the 
place  thereof.  For  he  looketh  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  and  seeth 
under  the  whole  heavens.  *  *  *  And  unto  man  he  saith  :  Behold 
the  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom  ;  and  to  depart  from  evil,  that  is 
understanding." 

Go  forth,  then,  and  assume  your  duties  in  society,  remembering 
what  your  liberties  are  worth,  what  they  cost  in  their  establishment. 
Remember  that  the  great  and  good  of  every  age  have  striven  to  perfect 
them,  and  that  it  is  your  duty  to  seek  diligently  for  the  means  and 
power  to  do  likewise.  Resolve,  as  you  must  become  partisans — for 
governments  are  necessarily  controlled  by  parties — that  you  will  yet 
remain  patriots.  Labor  incessantly  to  preserve  bright  and  pure  the 
sacred  flame  of  liberty  amid  all  the  temptations  and  wayward  ten- 
dencies of  the  age.  Pray  for  the  prosperity  of  our  political  Zion,  that 
her  strength  may  be  as  her  days  require  ;  that  as  foes  assault,  her 
towers  may  rise  higher,  her  battlements  become  stronger,  and  her 
bulwarks  increased,  until  she  stands  victorious  over  kings  and  princi- 
palities and  powers,  and  all  the  weary  of  earth  are  gathered  securely 
beneath  the  peaceful  shadows  of  her  walls. 


LIEUT.  Z.  B.  VANCE,  U.  S.  A. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  1 35 


CHAPTER  XI. 

VANCE  AS  I  KNEW  HIM. BY  REV.  R.  N.  PRICE,  D.  D. 

Views  of  His  Inner  Life  as  Boy  and  Man — Personal  Traits  and  Pecu- 
liarities— Quick  Perception — Wonderful  Memory — Thought  to 
Lean  Towards  Skepticism— Love  for  His  Mother— Brave  and  Chi- 
valrous— Scrupulously  Honest  and  Truthful  as  a  Boy — Would 
Confess  and  Take  the  Rod  Rather  Than  Deny  a  Mischievous 
-  Prank — Straightforward  and  Manly  in  Everything — A  Most 
Patient  and  Tender  Husband  and  Father — Scrupulous  in  Money 
Matters — Practiced  Economies — Never  Became  Involved  in 
Financial  Difficulties  or  Assumed  Obligations  Beyond  His  Means — 
No  Self-Denial  Too  Great  if  Honor  Involved — Challenge  to  Fight 
a  Duel  Accepted — The  Adjustment  a  Full  Vindication  of  Him — 
Keenly  Alive  to  Danger  But  Heroic — Army  Incidents  and  Anec- 
dotes— Conduct  as  an  Officer  Neither  Austere  Nor  Negligent— Joins 
the  Church. 

'EB  Vance,  as  he  was  familiarly  called  when  a  boy 
was  twenty  years  old  when  I  first  became  acquainted 
with  him.  As  a  preacher,  I  visited  the  family  in  the  year 
1850-51.  He  was  a  big  boy  physically  and  intellectually, 
sociable  and  affable,  but  not  loquacious.  While  he  was 
witty  and  humorous,  even  at  that  early  age,  there  was  a  dig- 
nity and  self-poise  in  his  demeanor  that  conciliated  respect. 
He  was  meditative  and  fond  of  books,  and  he  had  profited 
by  the  Vance  library,  a  family  collection  of  standard 
literary  works.  He  had  had  reasonable  common  school 
advantages,  and  had  spent  a  short  time  as  a  student  In 
Washington  College,  East  Tennessee,  an  institution  that 
has  given  to  the  country  many  of  its  most  useful  men.  He 
had  not,  at  that  time,  been  a  student,  as  he  afterwards  was, 
of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  But  he  had  acquired 
the  rudiments  of  science,  and  his  education,  though  limited, 
was  accurate  ;  and  it  was  a  spark  sufficient  to  kindle  a 
genius  of  no  ordinary  character. 


136  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Dr. Ensor,  of  Bristol,  Tenn.,  was  a  school  mate  of 

Mr.  Vance  in  Washington  College.  Some  years  since  he 
told  me  the  following  anecdote  :  Ensor  and  Vance  were 
appointed  to  deliver  orations  at  a  coming  commencement 
of  the  college.  One  day  they  went  out  into  an  old  field  to 
practice  their  speeches.  Vance  spoke  his  first,  and  while 
Ensor  was  speaking,  he  lay  down  on  the  grass  to  listen  and 
criticise.  When  Ensor's  speech  was  ended,  Vance  rolled 
over  in  the  grass  two  or  three  times  and  said:  "Ensor,  I 
feel  it  from  the  top  of  my  head  to  the  ends  of  my  fingers 
and  toes,  that  I  am  to  be  Governor  of  North  Carolina." 
This,  of  course,  was  said  jocularly  ;  but  the  joke,  which 
turned  out  to  be  more  true  than  poetical,  showed  that  even 
at  that  early  day,  the  boy  had  dreams  of  ambition. 

Vance's  chief  intellectual  endowments,  as  a  young  man, 
were  a  quickness  of  perception,  a  ready  and  retentive  mem- 
ory, a  lively  fancy,  a  creative  imagination,  together  with  a 
flow  of  wit  and  humor.  Not  being  an  ambitious  conversa- 
tionalist, he  made  no  effort  to  display  these  qualities  in 
company.  In  the  social  circle,  he  knew  his  place  and  kept 
it ;  he  was  neither  demure  nor  garrulous. 

As  a  young  man,  his  habits,  so  far  as  I  know,  were  good. 
He  was  regarded  by  his  associates,  I  think,  as  sober  and 
chaste.  Though  sufficiently  fond  of  society,  bed-time  usu- 
ally found  him  at  home,  and  either  in  bed  or  pouring  over 
the  pages  of  some  valuable  book. 

I  knew  him  well  as  a  man,  having  lived  some  years  in 
Asheville,  when  he  was  in  politics,  and  having  spent  a  year 
with  him  in  the  war  of  the  States,  a  large  part  of  the  time 
as  a  tent- mate  and  mess-mate. 

While  Col.  Daniel's  regiment,  of  which  Vance's  company 
was  a  part,  was  camped  near  Smithfield,  Va.,  I  made  me  a 
bedstead  of  poles  held  up  by  forks ;  Vance,  soldier-like,  laid 
his  bed  on  the  ground.  One  night  there  was  a  pouring 
rain  ;  and  I  awaked  to  find  Vance  busily  moving  about  in 
the  tent.     I  said,  "What's   the  matter.  Brother  Zeb?"  He 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  I37 

replied,  "  I  am  floating  !"  With  a  little  re-adjustment,  his 
couch  was  placed  above  high  water  mark,  and  he  was  soon 
again  in  the  land  of  dreams. 

No  man  was  readier  at  repartee  than  he.  One  night  I 
had  retired  upon  my  bunk,  while  Mr.  Vance,  who  had  been 
out  spending  the  earlier  part  of  the  night  in  chit-chat  with 
officers  of  the  regiment,  as  was  not  unusual  with  him,  came 
in  and  addressed  himself  to  letter  writing  near  my  head ; 
for  he  was  in  the  habit  of  attending  to  his  correspondence 
after  others  were  in  bed.  As  he  was  writing  he  cut  his 
tobacco  pretty  short,  and  was  spitting  rather  promiscuously 
as  I  was  dropping  to  sleep.  I  carried  into  dream-land 
an  oppressive  dread  lest,  in  his  reckless  dispensation  of  am- 
bccr^  he  might  mistake  me  for  a  spittoon.  Half  awake,  I 
arose  on  one  elbow  and  said,  "See  here,  Zeb,  I'm  afraid 
you'll  spit  on  me!"  He  replied  very  blandly,  "No,  brother 
Dick,  I'll  spit  in  the  water  bucket !"  This  assurance  gave 
me  entire  satisfaction,  and  I  was  soon  east  of  Eden  ao-ain 

Most  of  those  who  knew  Mr.  Vance  loved  him ;  all  re- 
spected him.  He  was  never  an  object  of  contempt.  If 
any  hated  him,  the}'  could  not  despise  him. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  his  career  he  was  suspected  of 
skepticism,  or  rather  of  religious  indifference  ;  but  he  was 
always  deferential  to  the  Church  and  respectful  to  ministers 
of  the  Gospel.  Closely  akin  to  his  reverence  for  relio-ion 
was  his  ever-present  and  never-waning  veneration  for  wo- 
man. His  tenderness  and  devotion  to  one  of  the  best  of 
mothers  is  one  of  the  pleasing  memories  of  the  family.  He 
could  not  have  been  otherwise  than  a  tender,  thoughtful, 
patient  husband.  No  irritation  could  so  far  throw  him  off 
of  his  guard  as  to  cause  him  to  speak  harshly  to  his  wife. 
Towards  woman  he  was  as  chivalric  as  he  was  brave  towards 
man. 

,  His  word  was  his  bond  backed  by  a  mortgage  on  a  sense 
of  honor  that  knew  no  depreciation.  His  mother  was 
heard  to  remark  that,  as  a  child,  Zeb  never  told  her  a  lie. 


138  IvlFE   OF  VANCE. 

He  would  bravely  take  the  severest  castigation  rather  than 
deny  his  guilt  in  any  case  where  he  was  guilty,  and  he,  no 
doubt,  richly  earned  many  a  whipping  ;  for,  while  never 
mean  or  base,  he  was,  as  a  boy,  prolific  of  mischievous 
pranks.  He  was  capable  of  a  great  deal  of  mischief,  and 
hence  sometimes  subjected  himself  to  the  rod,  which  he 
always  took  manfully  rather  than  deny  the  truth. 

Mr.  Vance  was  strictly  truthful  and  just  in  his  financial 
dealings.  I  suppose  there  is  not  a  man  living  who  would 
say  that  he  ever  knew  any  crookedness  in  his  business 
transactions.  To  use  a  hackneyed  phrase,  "he  was  the  soul 
of  honor."  He  could  not  stoop  to  a  little  thing.  There 
was  a  grandeur  in  his  bearing  and  a  magnanimity  in  his 
dealings  with  his  fellow  men  that  attracted  general  atten- 
tion. To  these  elements  of  greatness  were  due  in  a 
considerable  measure  his  general  and  enduring  popularity, 
and  his  long  tenure  of  public  trusts. 

For  a  man  of  genius,  he  w^as  a  good,  financier.  Unfitted 
by  taste  and  talent  for  the  dry  details  of  busimess  and  the 
little  economies  by  which,  coral-like,  fortunes  are  ordinari- 
ly built  up,  he  nevertheless  had  an  instinctive  soundness  of 
judgment  in  business,  and  his  finances  were  kept  within 
safe  bounds.  His  financiering  was  inspired  by  his  love  of 
honesty  rather  than  by  his  love  of  riches.  No  fondness  for 
pleasure  or  show  could  induce  him  to  place  himself  in  cir- 
cumstances in  which  he  could  not  meet  his  obligations. 
No  self-denial  was  too  severe,  if  honor  required  it. 

His  generosity  was  equal  to  his  honor.  All  he  had  be- 
yond the  demands  of  justice  was  at  the  disposal  of  his 
friends  if  they  needed  help. 

He  was  persistently  patient  with^his  friends,  but  defiant 
in  the  face  of  implacable  foes.  He  never  surrendered  with 
an  enemy  in  front,  and  never  fired  on  a  flag  of  truce.  But 
he  was  as  forgiving  of  enemies  that  sought  reconciliation 
as  he  was  firm  and  courageous  in  opposition. 

He  had  the  discretion  which  is  the  better  part  of  valor, 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  1 39 

and  he  was  usually  moderate  in  his  criticisms  of  those  who 
denounced  him  on  political  grounds.  In  one  of  his  Con- 
gressional canvasses  the  Asheville  News  criticised  him  very 
severely.  When  he  came  to  Asheville  to  speak  some  of 
his  friends  advised  him  to  denounce  the  editor  in  unmeas- 
ured terms.  He  replied:  "No;  I  will  not  do  that;  a 
year  hence  that  man  may  be  my  friend  and  supporter."  And 
it  was  even  so. 

While  running  for  Congress  from  time  to  time,  his 
courage  was  occasionally  put  to  the  test.  He  was  in  the 
way  of  certain  aspirants  v/ho  were  more  than  willing  to 
see  him  put  out  of  the  way.  Methods  of  intimidation  were 
used  to  drive  him  out  of  politics.  Once  he  was  challenged 
to  mortal  combat,  and,  as  a  man  of  the  world,  controlled  by 
false  maxims  then  in  vogue,  he  promptly  accepted  the 
challenge.  Friends,  however,  interfered,  and  bloodshed 
was  prevented.  He  did  not  approve  of  duelling  ;  he  was 
the  very  opposite  of  blood-thirsty  ;  but  he  did  not  intend 
that  the  game  of  bhtff  should  be  successfully  played  on 
him.  When  it  was  discovered  that  he  could  not  be  bluffed, 
he  had  smoother  sailing. 

Throughout  his  career,  including  a  year  in  the  army, 
first  as  a  captain  and  then  as  a  colonel,  he  demonstrated 
his  courage — not  blood-thirstiness,  not  fool  hardiness — but 
courage  that  combined  the  physical  and  the  moral.  He 
was  keenly  alive  to  danger,  and  was  as  anxious  as  any  man 
ought  to  be  to  avoid  injury  and  death  ;  but  he  prized  his 
honor  and  love  of  country  above  life  itself.  It  is  said  that 
in  one  of  the  battles  on  the  peninsula  below  Richmond,  he 
said  to  a  rabbit  retreating  to  the  rear,  "  Go  it,  cotton  tail, 
if  I  had  no  more  reputation  at  stake  than  you,  I  would  fol- 
low you  !"  But  he  had  reputation  and  the  rights  of  his 
section  at  stake,  and  no  man  faced  death  more  bravely  on 
that  occasion  than  he. 

To  use  a  common  expression,  he  had  "  the  courage  of  his 
convictions."     When  many  young  men   of   W'estern  Caro- 


140  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

lina  were  going  over  to  the  Democratic  party  in  the  fifties, 
believing  that  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  nation,  the  district 
and  their  counties  were  Democratic,  their  personal  interests 
would  be  subserved  by  the  change,  he  stood  firm  to  the 
Whig  party  and  afterwards  to  its  successor,  the  American 
party.  As  a  Whig  and  American  he  opposed  secession  till 
the  proclamation  of  Abraham  Lincoln  calling  for  troops  to 
coerce  the  Southern  States  into  submission,  swept  him  into 
the  Southern  army. 

He  was  a  born  ruler — king  of  men.  While  he  was  a  cap- 
tain in  the  Confederate  army,  I  was  a  member  of  his 
company  ;  and  his  control  of  his  men  was  as  complete  and 
amicable  as  that  of  a  well  regulated  family.  As  a  colonel 
he  had  the  confidence  of  officers  and  men,  and  his  o^overn- 
ment  was  that  of  love  rather  than  of  force,  though  by  no 
means  lax.  He  was  equally  removed  from  the  Jiaiitcur  of 
the  regular  arm_y  officer,  and  such  familiarity  with  his  men 
as  would  have  bred  contempt. 

He  loved  good  society — that  of  the  refined  and  cultured. 
He  had  a  pleasing  address,  and  his  manners  in  society  fell 
little  short  of  the  courtly.  Persons  who  knew  not  his  true 
inwardness  may  have  thought  him  aristocratic  ;  but  his 
heart  beat  in  unison  with  the  masses. 

He  died  a  Protestant  and  Christian,  an  upright  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  example  in  his  youth  of 
pious  parents,  the  influence  of  a  Christian  wife,  and  of  her 
patient  endurance  of  months  of  affliction,  which  finall)- 
broke  her  way  to  God,  removed  from  his  mind  all  doubt  as 
to  the  genuineness  and  divinity  of  experimental  religion  ; 
and  after  her  death  he  appeared  at  the  altars  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  made  a  confession  of  Christ,  and  sought 
membership  in  her  communion.  In  this  communion  he 
died. 

These  scattering  remarks  may  appear  as  too  much  in  the 
spirit  of  panegyric.  I  have  not  dwelt  upon  the  faults  of 
Senator  Vance.     Of  course  he  had  faults.     The  major  part 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  141 

of  Ills  life  was  spent  as  a  worldlian  ;  he  made  mistakes  ; 
but  even  in  his  worst  days  he  was  not  characterized  by 
flao;rant  immoralities.  I  was  with  him  and  near  him  sev- 
eral months  in  the  ami)-  ;  and  I  am  snre  that  he  was,  dnring 
that  period,  abstemious  from  ardent  spirits  ;  a  profane  word 
seldom  passed  his  lips,  and  he  was  strictly  chaste.  With 
his  habits  in  Washington  City,  I  was  not  acquainted. 

Morally  and  spiritually  his  last  days  were  his  best  days. 
He  mellowed  and  ripened  for  a  better  world.  He  had 
gleaned  from  the  trials  and  aggravations  of  life,  a  hallowed 
chastening,  the  fires  of  affliction  had  scaled  his  earthliness 
away,  and  as  his  sun  was  hastening  to  the  horizon,  he  was 
growing  up  unto  Christ-likeness.  I  trust  he  was  ready  for 
the  Master's  call,  and  that  he  is  at  rest. 


142  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

VANCE    AND    SETTLE    CAMPAIGN. 

Large  State  Couventiou — Vance  Nominated  for  Governor — His  Able 
and  Pathetic  Speech  Accepting  the  Nomination — The  Crowd — The 
Effect— Thos.  Settle  the  Competitor— Their  First  Meeting— Open- 
ing of  the  Campaign — At  Rutherfordton — The  Crowd— The 
Scenes — The  Speeches — At  Bakersville — The  Respective  Escort 
— The  Speeches — Vance's  Nine  Questions — Vance's  Popularity — 
Bearing  of  the  Two  Canidates — They  Meet  at  Jonesboro — Stormy 
Scenes — Drunken  Negroes — Settle  Angry — Vance's  Coolness — Im- 
mense Enthusiasm — Gigantic  Blows  Given  and  Received — The 
Speech  at  Carthage — Moffitt  Mill — Torchlight  Procession — Carter's 
Mill — Women,  Children  and  Babies  in  Ranks  at  Lexington,  Went- 
worth,  Kinston  and  Elsewhere. 

jN  the  i4tli  day  of  June,  1876,  Vance  was  nominated 
for  Governor  of  the  State  by  the  Conservative 
Democratic  party,  the  name  assumed  by  the  Old  Whigs 
and  Democrats,  who  had  been  united  by  the  reconstruction 
and  other  harsh  and  oppressive  measures  of  the  Federal 
administration.  These  measures  were  championed  here 
by  many  adventurers  from  Northern  States,  known  in  this 
and  other  localities  of  the  South  as  carpet-baggers.  With 
these  were  associated  the  "bushwhackers"  of  the  Western 
part  of  the  State — deserters  and  those  who  had  refused  to 
obey  the  conscript  law  ;  the  "Buffaloes"  of  the  East — men 
who  had  remained  within  the  Federal  lines  and  engaged 
in  acts  of  lawlessness  and  depredation,  together  with  almost 
the  entire  colored  population,  and  also  a  few  respectable 
native  citizens  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 

The  convention  which  nominated  Vance  was  large, 
numbering  nearly  a  thousand  delegates,  and  thoroughly 
representative  of  all  the  better  classes  of  citizens.  A  con- 
temporary newspaper  referring  to  the '  convention,  says  : 
"  Such  an  outpouring  of  the  best  elements  of  the  State  was 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  143 

never  before  seen."  They  had  long  endured  with  more  or 
less  patience  the  wrongs  and  outrages  of  political  adven- 
turers and  South  haters,  and  were  now  determined  to  throw 
ofif  the  yoke.  The  field  had  been  thoroughly  canvassed 
beforehand,  and  while  Vance  was  known  to  have  many 
elements  of  strength,  he  was  also  known  to  have  made 
enemies.  Although  he  had  sought  in  every  possible  way 
to  mitigate  the  harshness  of  the  conscript  laws  by  insist- 
ing that  men  should  have  the  right  to  select  their  own 
companies,  and  thus  be  placed  in  the  army  among  their 
neighbors  and  friends ;  by  manfully  upholding  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  and  protecting  such  as  were  discharged 
under  it;  and  by  his  unsurpassed  energy  and  success  in 
providing  for  the  families  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  as 
well  as  for  the  soldiers  themselves,  still,  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duties  as  Governor,  he  had  been  obliged  to  assist  in  ar- 
resting deserters  or  others  who  singly  or  in  gangs  were 
committing  depredations  upon  the  peaceable  and  law- 
abiding  people. 

Hence  opinion  was  divided  as  to  whether  it  would  be 
expedient  to  nominate  him.  He  was  very  free  to  say  to 
his  friends  in  consultation  that  he  himself  had  grave 
doubts  whether  it  would  not  be  a  mistake  to  put  him  in 
nomination.  But  as  the  delegates  began  to  assemble  from 
various  parts  of  the  State,  the  sentiment  was  seen  to 
crystalize  largely  in  his  favor.  A  number  of  other  names 
of  distinguished  men  were  placed  before  the  convention, 
viz  :  Daniel  G.  Fowle,  David  S.  Reid,  W.  R.  Cox,  Jno.  A. 
Gilmer,  C.  C.  Clark  and  W.  F.  Martin.  Nevertheless 
Vance's  nomination  was  practically  unanimous ;  out  of  966 
votes  cast  he  received  962.  He  was  in  Raleigh  at  the 
time  and  made  a  speech  at  night  in  front  of  the  National 
Hotel  accepting  the  nomination.  An  immense  crowd 
surrounded  him,  unbounded  enthusiasm  prevailed  and  the 
speech  was  most  impressive.  Listeners  were  heard  to  say 
it  was  tlie  only  speech  Vance  had  ever  made   without  tell- 


144  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

ing  an  anecdote.  An  unusual  seriousness  seemed  to  possess 
him,  and  he  was  pathetic  rather  than  humorous.  He  told 
in  touching  words  the  story  of  the  humiliation  and  suffering 
of  the  people  during  the  era  of  reconstruction  ;  how  they 
had  been  invited  to  frame  a  constitution  and  elect  officers 
and  a  Legislature,  and  when  they  had  proceeded  to  do  so, 
how  they  were  again  put  back  under  military  rule  because 
forsooth,  they  had  not  seen  fit  to  vote  in  a  way  to  please 
the  party  in  control  at  Washington.  In  scathing  and  indig- 
nant terms  he  denounced  the  authors  of  this  iniquitous 
legislation  in  Congress  and  its  aiders  and  abettors  in  our 
own  State,  and  related  how  the  Federal  government  had,  by 
an  act  of  Congress,  authorized  a  military  commander  with 
headquarters  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  to  order  an 
election  for  members  of  a  convention  to  frame  a  new  con- 
stitution for  North  Carolina  ;  to  prescribe  the  qualification 
of  voters  ;  appoint  the  registrars  and  designate  the  time  and 
manner  of  holding  the  election  and  himself  to  certify  the 
result  ;  that  under  this  military  order  thirty  thousand  of 
the  most  intelligent  white  men  of  this  State  were  disfran- 
chised (all  who  had  ever  held  office  and  afterwards  engaged 
in  the  war  for  the  Confederacy),  while  eighty  thousand 
colored  men  who  had  no  right  under  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  State  or  the  United  States  to  vote,  were  admit- 
ted to  the  polls,  thus  allowing  the  colored  people  to  confer 
upon  themselves  the  privilege  of  casting  the  ballot  in  future. 
Such  was  the  method  by  which  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  to 
the  United  States  Constitution  was  adopted  in  this  State  and 
the  right  of  suffrage  conferred  upon  the  colored  people.  He 
told  how  he  had  struggled  all  through  the  dark  period  of 
the  war  to  uphold  the  civil  law  and  guard  the  sacred  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  ;  how  he  had  succeeded  by  dint  of  per- 
suasion, remonstrance,  and  at  times  by  even  threatening  to 
call  out  the  militia;  and  then  how  shameful  and  humiliat- 
ing it  was  to  know  that  after  the  last  soldier  had  laid  down 
his  arms  and  peace  had  been  proclaimed,   that  sacred  writ 


; 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  I45 

was  trodden  under  foot  and  reputable  citizens  cast  into  dun- 
geon without  cause  or  accusation,  and  how  that  reputable 
citizens,  such  as  Judge  Kerr,  Josiah  Turner  and  many 
others  were  arrested  and  thrown  into  dungeons  by  Kirk's  men, 
without  charges  and  kept  there  without  bail,  under  Gov- 
ernor Holden's  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  He 
also  referred  to  personal  charges  against  himself,  none  of 
them,  however,  affecting  his  integrity  or  his  honor,  and 
holding  his  white,  shapely  hands  high  above  his  head,  he 
said  in  thrilling  tones,  "  Before  my  God  no  dishonest  dollar 
has  ever  soiled  these  palms." 

He  also  related  that  in  1863  some  fifty  or  sixty  citizens 
of  North  Carolina  were  arrested  by  the  Confederate  au- 
thorities and  put  in  prison  in  Salisburj'  without  known 
cause.  He  wrote  at  once  to  the  authorities  at  Richmond 
demanding  that  these  men  be  brought  to  trial  immediately 
on  specific  charges  or  released.  There  was  hesitation  and 
quibbling  at  Richmond,  but  he  told  them  that  if  these 
men  were  not  tried  at  once,  or  released,  he  would  issue  a 
proclamation  recalling  the  North  Carolina  soldiers  from 
Virginia,  and  call  out  the  State  militia  to  protect  the  liber- 
ties of  the  citizens,  and  the  prisoners  were  speedily  released. 

The  effect  of  this  speech  was  truly  wonderful  and  far- 
reaching.  It  was  genuine  eloquence — the  eloquence  of 
manhood  and  truth  rather  than  of  mere  words.  It  was 
eloquence  personified — Vance  eloquence,  and  showed  what 
was  manifest  in  all  his  speeches  throughout  the  campaign, 
that  the  man  was  greater  than  the  emergency,  greater 
than  his  own  words,  greater  than  any  occasion.  The  hearts 
of  all  his  listeners  were  deeply  stirred.  Their  heaving 
bosoms  and  moistened  eyes  showed  how  tenderly  they 
had  been  touched,  while  their  clenched  teeth  and  livid 
countenances  gave  evidence  of  their  resentment  and  de- 
termination. Vance  immediately  took  the  stump.  His 
competitor  was  Honorable  Thos.  Settle,  a  native  of  Rock- 
ingham  county  in  this  State,  an  ex-Jttdge  of  the  Supreme 

11 


146  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Court,  a  man  of  good  family,  good  character,  of  a  high 
order  of  ability,  and  of  very  prepossessing  personal  appear- 
ance. Vance  and  Settle  made  a  joint  canvass  of  the  State, 
which  is  perhaps  the  most  memorable  in  its  history,  and 
may  well  be  termed  the  battle  of  the  giants. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  an  instance  where  a 
man's  presence  and  personalty  were  so  strikingly  superior 
to  his  own  words  and  arguments  as  was  demonstrated  in 
this  campaign.  Vance's  competitor,  Judge  Settle,  was  an 
able,  astute  and  powerful  debater,  and  it  was  sometimes  felt 
by  Vance's  friend,  when  Settle  made  the  first  speech  that 
it  would  be  next  to  impossible  for  Vance  to  fully  meet  his 
arguments,  and  even  at  the  close  of  some  of  the  debates 
Vance's  friends  felt  that  he  had  not  been  as  careful  and 
forceful  in  answering  some  of  Settle's  arguments  as  he 
might  have  been.  But  it  made  no  difference  with  the 
crowd.  His  presence  was  enough  for  them.  The  moment 
he  rose,  "Vance,"  "Vance,"  "Vance,"  went  up  in  a  grand 
chorus  from  all  parts  of  the  crowd.  The  first  motion  of 
his  hand  or  the  first  note  of  his  voice  sent  a  thrill  of  elec- 
tricity through  the  crowd  and  set  them  wild.  It  made  no 
difference  what  he  said  or  whether  he  said  anything  in 
particular  or  not.  The  crowds  invariably  rose  to  their  feet 
as  soon  as  he  began,  and  would  yell  at  the  end  of  every 
sentence  and  frequently  before  the  end,  not  heeding  or  car- 
ing what  was  said.  He  had  a  big  triumph  before  he 
began. 

At  the  beginning  as  well  as  at  the  end,  or  at  any  inter- 
mediate point  in  his  speech,  they  were  ready  and  eager  to 
pull  him  off  the  stand  and  bear  him  around  in  their  arms. 
It  was  often  with  great  difficulty  that  he  could  prevent  the 
crowds  from  howling  down  his  competitor  in  his  replies 
and  rejoinders. 

It  is  regretted  that  full,  accurate  and  impartial  accounts 
of  this  campaign  are  not  now  accessible.  The  newspapers 
which  had  the  best  reports  cannot  be  found.     The  follow- 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  147 

ing  reports,  taken  from  available  sources,  principally  from 
the  Raleigh  Sentinel,  furnish  some  interesting  incidents  of 
this  memorable  campaign,  as  well  as  a  general  summary 
of  the  points  discussed  and  the  impressions  made  by  the 
speakers : 

RuTHERFORDTON,  N.  C,  July  25,  1876. 

Vance  aiifl  Settle  opened  the  campaign  Tuesday  to  4,000  people. 
Vance  opened  in  a  speech  of  an  hour  and  a  half.  Settle  followed  at 
the  same  length,  and  each  replied  in  half  hour  speeches.  Vance  made 
a  telling  speech  and  gained  votes.  Settle  made  a  strong  partisan 
appeal,  and  dodged  the  issues  as  best  he  could.  The  speakers  used 
courteous  language  towards  each  other,  and  indulged  in  no  undue 
personalties.  The  negroes  were  boisterous  for  Settle.  Settle  read  a 
letter  of  Vance  with  the  United  States  seal,  procured  in  Washington 
City,  in  regard  to  making  desertion  a  misdemeanor.  Vance  held  it  up 
to  the  people  and  showed  that  much  had  been  suppressed,  and  only 
garbled  extracts  made.  He  said  the  government  denied  him  access  to 
his  own  official  letters,  and  Settle  garbled  them  to  suit  himself.  He 
was  afraid  to  fight  him  fairly.  (Sensation,  and  murmurs  of  "shame 
on  Settle,"  "a  villainoiis  act,"  &c.)  Vance  arraigned  Settle  for 
sympathizing  with  the  Kirk  war,  raising  a  company  and  resigning  to 
run  for  ofl&ce,  and  the  Republicans  for  fraud  and  peculation,  civil 
rights,  hard  times  and  heavy  taxes.  Vance's  denunciation  of  the  civil 
rights  bill  as  one  of  the  pet  measures  of  the  radical  party  was  one  of 
the  best  efforts  of  his  life,  and  must  have  a  telling  effect  among  the 
white  Republications  of  the  mountain  country  if  repeated  in  his 
future  speeches.  Settle  made  an  appeal  to  the  negroes,  went  over 
the  ku-klux  raw-head  and  bloody-bones  stories,  quoted  Joe  Turner 
and  blamed  Vance  for  faithlessness  to  the  Confederacy.  The  Spartan- 
burg band  accompanied  Vance.  There  was  little  demonstration  for 
Settle.  Both  made  powerful  speeches.  The  mountains  are  afire  for 
Vance. 

Bakersville,  N.  C,  August  3d,  1876. 

The  day  was  a  very  huge  one  in  this  town,  the  mountain  roads 
fairly  streamed  with  people  coming  to  hear  the  candidates  speak,  and 
the  little  town  was  already  swarmed  over  with  as  many  as  could  be 
packed  on  the  streets.  A  delegation  of  about  eighty  rat-tail  mules  and 
as  many  young  men  and  boys,  with  flags  in  their  hands,  escorted 
Judge  Settle  into  town,  screaming  to  keep  their  courage  up,  and  rally- 
ing their  hats  around  a  very  sickly  looking  Hayes  and  Settle  flag.  The 
men  that  met  Vance  meant  business.  They  represented  all  sections 
of  the  county,  and  the  neighboring  counties  around,  and  there  wasn't 
a  child  just  weaned  among  them.  They  rode  to  town  in  good  order, 
preserving  the  dignity  and  behavior  of  men  who  are  determined  to 
win  and  are  assured  of  the  victory  before  them.     The  ladies  had  pre- 


148  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

pared  a  beautiful  campaign  banner,  ^vhich  floated  proudly  over  the 
town.  As  Vance  alighted  at  the  boarding  house  of  Mrs.  Penlands  the 
crowd  gave  three  rousing  cheers  for  Vance  and  reform. 

The  discussion  to-day  was  before  the  largest  crowd  ever  known  in 
Mitchell  county.  It  is  a  finely  matched  couple,  Vance  and  Settle  ;  two 
of  the  handsomest  men  in  the  State,  and  each  with  a  master  mind  to 
grapple  with.  Vance  shows  to  advantage  over  Settle  from  his  long 
experience  on  the  stump,  in  fact,  he  was  born  for  that  business.  And 
another  advantage  he  has,  he  only  appeals  to  the  good  judgment  of  the 
people  while  Settle  opens  up  the  old  war  sores  and  tries  to  make  cap- 
ital out  of  their  prejudices  in  holding  up  Vance's  war  record.  Vance 
figures  up  the  great  stealings  and  corruptions  of  the  administration 
party  and  calls  on  Settle  to  stand  to  them  or  deny  them,  and  Settle  an- 
swers by  not  answering  at  all,  and  dodges  the  question  behind  Vance's 
war  record.  The  people  see  this  too  plainly.  Many  Republicans  ex- 
pressed themselves  much^dissatisfied  at  Judge  Settle's  course  in  regard 
to  these  questions. 

The  nine  questions  which  stun  the  judge  are  as  follows  : 
Was  Holden's  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  legal  ? 
Which  of  the  constitutional  amendments  are  good  ? 
How  did  the  South  get  out  of  the  Union  ? 
Were  the  reconstruction  acts  constitutional  ? 
Can  Congress  confer  the  right  of  suffrage  ? 
■  Was  the  Louisiana  outrage  constitutional  ? 
Was  Judge  Settle  not  elected  to  the  supreme  bench  by  fraud  ? 
Does  Judge  Settle  approve  Grant's  administration  ? 
Does  he  approve  the  civil  rights  bill  ? 
Was  desertion  from  the  army  right  ? 

These  questions  Settle  dealt  with  playfully,  saying  they  had  no 
sense  in  them,  and  reminded  him  of  the  question,  if  corn  was  fifty 
cents  a  bushel,  and  three  pecks  to  the  bushel,  how  much  would  it  take 
to  shingle  a  house  ?  He  then  retired  into  winter  quarters  behind 
Vance's  war  record.  To  say  Vance  has  gained  votes  in  this  radical 
county  would  only  be  speaking  the  general  sentiment  of  the  people, 
and  to  declare  further  the  strong  probability  of  his  carrying  the 
county,  is  only  rehearsing  what  some  of  the  Republicans  have  whis- 
pered with  fear. 

The  bearing  of  the  two  men  on  the  stump  is  admirable.  The 
utmost  good  feeling  prevails,  and  while  hard  blows  are  hit  and 
received  they  are  given  with  an  entiente  cordiale  which  keeps  the 
crowd  in  a  good  humor  and  arouses"no  personal  bad  feeling.  Settle 
said  to-day  that  during  all  their  canvass,  the  people  had  sat  silent  and 
heard  them  for  their  cause  as  if  sitting  in  a  church. 

Fifty  men  who  heard  Vance  yesterday  at  Burnsville,in  Vancey  coun- 
ty, followed  him  over  to  Bakersville,  and  when  it  is  remembered  they 
had  to  swim  their  horses  over  a  swollen  river  and  travel  for  miles  over 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  1 49 

the  roughest,  rockiest  road  in  the  United  States,  it's  a  straw  to  show 
how  he  stands  in  the  mountains. 

"  I  want  to  hear  Vance  ,"  said  Mr.  Gaddy  from  South  Carolina, 
whom  the  reporier  met  on  the  Western  road.  He  got  off  at  Marion 
and  rode  thirty-five  miles  across  the  Blue  Ridge  and  heard  Vance  to- 
day. 

"  Let  me  know  in  Richmond  if  Vance  speaks  in  Rockingham,  and 
I  will  come  up  on  the  train  and  hear  him,  "  said  A.  Y.  Stokes,  of  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  to  the  reporter  last  Monday. 

The  people  followed  him  in  crowds  all  along  the  road,  shaking 
hands  and  talking. 

A  large  number  of  Republicans  in  Mitchell  county  have  their 
children  named  after  Zeb.  Vance. 

JONESBORO,  N.  C,  August  25,   1876. 

Vance  and  Settle  met  in  discussion  at  Jonesboro  to-day.  There 
were  3,000  people  present  from  Moore,  Wake,  Chatham  and  Cumber, 
land  counties.  It  was  the  elephant  day  of  the  campaign.  Fayette- 
ville  with  band  and  banners,  and  the  boldest  boys  that  ever  stepped 
behind  brass  music,  turned  out  800  strong.  Old  gray-headed  men,  such 
as  W.  R.  Hill  and  the  venerable  Steadman,  marched  in  procession 
with  the  Tilden  and  Vance  Club.  And  when  Raleigh  met  Fayetteville, 
and  the  clubs  all  joined,  with  Jonesboro  one  thousand  strong  in  the 
middle,  and  the  little  cannon  from  Fayetteville  barking  every  minute, 
the  negroes  and  few  white  radicals  thought  the  world  was  coming  to 
an  end  for  Vance.     In  this  way  they  marched  him  to  the  stand. 

Judge  Settle  was  carried  up,  all  the  way  with  General  Stephen 
Douglass,  in  a  carriage  decked  with  flowers,  a  gentleman  and  his  lady 
in  a  carriage  behind,  and  eighteen  white  men,  some  in  their  shirt- 
sleeves, on  chicken-breasted  nags,  and  an  entire  cornfield  of  negroes 
yelling  like  yahoos  at  the  tag  end  of  the  line. 

Settle  lead  off  for  one  hour  and  a  half  in  a  characteristic  speech. 
He  charged  Vance  with  being  the  principal  cause  of  the  destruction  of 
two-thirds  of  all  the  property  in  the  State  as  compared  with  i860,  be- 
cause he  had  continued  the  war  two  years  longer  than  was  necessary  ; 
that  Vance  had  lost  the  children  of  the  State  |2, 000, 000  school  fund  by 
investing  in  bonds  to  help  the  Confederacy,  which  bonds  were  repudi- 
ated at  the  end  of  the  war  ;  that  Democrats  and  Republicans  had  voted 
for  the  special  tax  bonds  ;  that  the  expenses  of  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment under  Buchanan's  administration  was  $1.98  per  head  ;  that 
Bristow's  report  shows  that  for  every  thousand  dollars  collected  as 
duties  upon  customs  only  one  cent  on  the  thousand  dollars  so  collected 
was  lost  ;  that  of  every  thousand  dollars  of  internal  revenue  collected 
only  I1.33  of  every  thousand  dollars  so  collected  was  lost  ;  that  in 
Jackson's  time  $17.00  on  the  thousand  was  lost.  He  spoke  of  the 
94,000  ofiice  holders,  and  said  that  65,000  were  postmasters.  He  read 
from  the  new  revenue  law,  as  passed  by  the  last  Congress,   as  being 


150  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

more  stringent  than  the  old  one.  He  said  that  according  to  Vance's 
definition  H^^  he  (Settle)  deserted  the  Confederate  arm}'  in  May  1862, 
and  Vance  deserted  in  August  following.  He  then  referred  to  Vance's 
war  record.  Read  from  Vance's  letter  to  General  Lee  asking  for  two 
regiments  of  calvary  to  quarter  upon  the  people  ;  that  Vance  had  be- 
trayed the  Union  men  who  elected  him  in  1863,  and  got  to  be  such  a 
war  man  that  he  wanted  to  fight  till  hell  froze  over  and  then  fight  on 
the  ice.  He  then  read  other  letters  of  Vance's  bearing  upon  the  war. 
Vance  replied  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  He  said  he  had  uo  quarrel 
with  the  great  mass  of  the  Republican  party.  His  quarrel  was  with 
the  Republican  leaders.  If  any  party  is  kept  in  power  too  long,  they 
become  corrupt,  and  think  the  offices  belong  to  them.  That  the  Re- 
publican party  was  born  of  a  violation  of  the  constitution.  Its  first 
act  was  to  set  the  slaves  free  by  violence.  He  had  fought  four  years 
to  keep  the  negroes  in  slavery  and  he  would  fight  sixteen  to  keep  one 
of  them  from  belonging  to  him.  If  he  owned  a  full-blooded  radical, 
he  would' swap  him  off  for  a  dog  and  kill  the  dog.  [Laughter.]  All 
three  of  the  co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government  had  agreed  in  de- 
claring the  States  not  out  of  the  Union,  yet  Congress,  in  1S67,  had 
legislated  them  out  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  political  power 
and  to  impose  conditions  on  the  people.  One-fourth  of  the  whites 
were  disfranchised  and  all  the  negroes  were  enfranchised.  That  his 
competitor  had  no  word  of  condemnation  for  the  Louisiana  outrage, 
for  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  the  Kirk  war. 
That  Settle  talked  of  signs  of  war  ;  that  he  had  seen  between  that 
place  and  Asheboro  fields  of  rye  and  plenty  of  sorghum  boiling,  and 
that  looked  like  war.     [Laughter.] 

He  then  referred  to  the  finances,  and  showed  that  from  1789  to  1861, 
a  period  of  72  years,  the  total  expenses  of  the  government  were  $1,581,- 
000.  From  1861  to  1875,  14  years,  I5, 220,000  ;  take  out  four  years  of 
war  and  expenses  for  ten  years  of  peace  from  1865  to  1875,  was  |2,o84,- 
000,  nearly  twice  as  m,uch  as  for  72  years  before  the  war.  That 
$4,495,000  had  been  collected  by  the  internal  revenue,  and  of  that 
sum  $1,500,000  had  been  stolen. 

He  then  spoke  of  the  increase  of  the  office-holders  from  46,000  in 
i860  to  94,000  in  1876.  He  was  severe  on  the  revenue  officers  who 
could  lie  down  and  drink  out  of  a  branch  and  tell  if  there  was  a  still 
five  miles  up  it,  and  who  could  look  at  a  man's  track  and  tell  whether 
he  was  toting  a  quart  of  whiskey  or  a  two  gallon  jug.  [Laughter.] 
He  alluded  to  the  loss  of  the  negroes  by  the  Freedmen's  bank,  of  the 
$1,500,000  loaned  by  Secretary  Robeson  and  lost  to  the  government  ; 
of  the  Belknap  scandal  ;  and  that  Blaine  had  said  to  Munn,  of  Chicago, 
that  he  (Blaine)  had  no  influence  with  Grant,  nor  had  any  other  man 
unless  he  was  a  thief.  That  there  had  been  so  much  corruption  in  the 
country  that  the  man  in  the  moon  had  to  hold  his  nose  when  he  passed 
over  the  earth.     He  alluded  to  the  civil  rights  bill  as  the  entering  wedge 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  I5I 

to  social  equalit}'.  Read  Kilpatrick's  letter  about  the  bloody  shirt 
campaign  in  Indiana,  and  said  it  was  to  stir  up  old  prejudices  why 
Settle  took  up  half  of  his  time  with  his  war  record.  It  was  like  the 
boy  who  had  been  to  college  and  had  gone  home  ashamed  of  his  old 
daddy.  One  day  the  old  man  was  mowing  hay  and  his  dinner  of  cheese 
and  crackers  was  sent  him.  The  old  man  commenced  to  eat  and  the 
son  pulled  out  a  microscope  and  looked  at  the  cheese  and  told  the  old 
man  that  the  cheese  was  full  of  animalculse.  The  old  man  says  "  full 
of  what  ?"  and  took  the  glass  and  looked  and  said,  "  I  believe  it  is  full, 
son,"  and  went  on  eating,  saying,  "if  they  can  stand  it  lean."  If  you 
people  can  live  on  your  prejudices  and  pay  attention  to  my  war  record, 
I  can  stand  it  if  you  can. 

He  then  read  the  resolutions  introduced  by  Settle  in  the  Legislature 
in  1854,  showing  that  Settle  was  a  secessionist,  that  he  had  taken  oath 
to  support  the  Confederate  States  constitution,  and  when  war  got 
hotter  and  times  were  squally,  he  thought  he  ought  to  stick  closer. 
That  he  and  Seymour,  of  New  York,  had  maintained  the  supremacy 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  while  Settle,  as  Judge,  had  aided  Holden 
to  suspend  that  writ.  Here  it  commenced  to  rain,  and  the  crowd, 
after  an  interval  of  an  hour,  assembled  in  front  of  Buchanan's  store. 

After  the  heavy  rain  had  run  the  crowd  from  the  first  stand  the 
candidates  finished  their  reply  speeches  in  the  upper  portico  of  Ryan 
&  Buchanan's  store.  A  great  mass  of  human  beings  stood  below  in 
the  street,  nearly  all  of  them  wet,  and  some  few  up  to  their  chins  in 
hard  cider  and  mean  whiskey.  Judge  Settle  waxed  fiercer  than  usual 
in  his  recital  of  ku-klux  outrages  in  1870.  This  set  the  bad  blood  to 
work  in  the  whiskey  men.  They  groaned  at  the  Judge.  He  flushed 
at  once  with  anger.  They  groaned  again.  He  then  denounced  them. 
He  said,  "I  tell  you,  those  ku-klux  were  men  like  you  who  bray  at 
me;  you  scoundrels;  you  infernal  fiends  of  hell,  you!" 
"  Hurrah  for  Vance!"  yelled  the  crowd. 

Judge  Settle — "If  my  competitor  does  not  rebuke  you  for  this 
conduct,  he  is  not  the  gentleman  I  have  always  found  him  in  this 
campaign.  If  he  does  not  tell  you  he  wishes  no  help  from  such  as 
you,  he  is  not  the  gentleman  I  have  always  known  him  since  our 
bo3'hood." 

Another  groan  and  cries  for  Vance. 

Settle — "  Will  the  decent  people  of  Moore  county  suffer  me  to  be 
thus  interrupted  by  a  mob?"  (The  Judge  was  about  to  sit  down). 
Vance  arose  and  calmed  the  troubled  waters  and  the  crowd  cried, 
"keep  quiet,  men,"  "silence!" 

The  Judge  then  continued  on  the  subject  of  habeas  corpus,  and 
cooled  off  rapidly  at  every  inch  of  returning  reason.  He  did  Vance 
the  justice  to  say  that  he  believed  he  never  in  all  of  his  life  laid  hand 
on  any  woman  save  in  the  way  of  kindness.  (The  crowd  clapped  their 
hands.)     The  Judge  closed. 


152  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Vance  arose,  perfectly  at  home  and  three  times  as  natural,  and 
told  the  crowd  he  knew  that  the  handful  of  men  who  had  interrupted 
his  competitor  w-ere  wet  at  the  time,  both  inside  and  out,  that  the 
campaign  had  always  been  pleasant  between  them,  and  wherever 
Settle's  friends  had  predominated  he  had  always  been  treated  with 
respect.  He  could  not  tolerate  such  conduct  in  those  men,  and  at  the 
same  time  he  condemned  the  severe  language  used  towards  them  by 
Judge  Settle.  He  thought  in  his  cooler  moments  the  Judge  would  see 
his  own  mistake  and  apologize  for  such  hasty  speech.  The  admirable 
self-poise  of  Vance,  the  easy  way  he  smoothed  the  passion  of  the 
crowd,  and  set  the  Judge  himself  to  laughing,  won  him  the  full 
measure  of  a  well  balanced  man  in  the  minds  of  all  that  crowd,  and 
the  sun  set  on  as  brilliant  a  Vance  victory  at  Jonesboro  as  it  has 
reddened  in  the  whole  campaign.  Judge  Settle  arose  after  Vance  and 
explained  how  easily  such  taunts  could  provoke  a  speaker  into  mad- 
ness, that  he  had  no  reference  in  his  offensive  language  to  those  of 
the  ku-klux  who  had  never  hung  or  stabbed  or  drowned,  (and  right 
here  a  half  drunken  fellow  brayed):  "but  I  do  not  wish  you,  sir,  to 
take  any  of  this  apology  to  yourself." 

C.\RTHAGE,  N.  C,  Aug.  24,  1876. 

The  signs  were  never  better  than  in  Randolph  county.  The  con- 
servatives are  doing  splendid  work.  In  186S  this  county  gave  a  radical 
majority  of  Soo.  In  1S70  but  one  radical  official  was  elected  in  the 
entire  county,  and  he  was  badly  scared  in  making  the  trip.  In  1872 
the  Democrats  elected  three  commissioners,  and  \V.  J.  Page  was  elected 
register  of  deeds  by  a  majority  of  75.  In  1874  the  democrats  elected 
their  legislative  ticket.  This  year  the  most  doubtful  conservatives  are 
sanguine  of  success.  Ashboro  gave  Vance  a  most  enthusiastic  recep- 
tion, and  he  gave  Ashboro  one  of  his  best  efforts  of  the  campaign. 
The  Tilden  and  Vance  club  paraded  at  night  with  transparences  and  a 
band  of  music. 

At  Moffitt's  Mill  the  next  day  the  crowd  was  large,  and  as  many 
as  200  women  sat  attentive  hearers.  Every  second  woman  held  an 
infant  in  her  lap.  The  speakers  made  their  usual  efforts,  though  two 
remarks  from  a  couple  of  the  crowd  are  worthy  of  note  :  One  said 
Vance  could  keep  his  temper  easier  than  Settle,  and  the  other,  a  prom- 
inent Republican,  seemed  chafed  with  Judge  Settle  because  he  didn't 
"set  that  Louisiana  outrage  straight."  He  reasoned  it  could  be  easily 
done. 

At  night  there  was  a  Tilden  and  Vance  jubilee  and  torchlight  pro- 
cession in  the  woods.  Never  was  seen  anything  like  it.  The  dense, 
dark  woods  ;  men  and  women  sitting  around  the  camp  fires,  and  about 
thirty  covered  wagons  packed.  Some  250  fell  into  line,  the  wagoners 
with  the  ladies  on  their  arms,  and  marched  up  and  down  the  road,  with 
transparencies,  two  fiddles  in  front,  scratching  the  very  agonies  out  of 
'' Old  Molly  Hare."     Every  throat  was  double-loaded  with  shouts  for 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  153 

Zeb.  Vance.  The  crowd  then  formed  in  front  of  Moffitt's  store,  where 
seats  were  improvised  for  the  women,  and  two  or  three  men  held 
torches  and  tallow  candles,  while  Dr.  Worth  delivered  a  short  planta- 
tion talk  that  fitted  exactly,  and  which  every  man  stored  away  on  his 
memory  string.  They  next  called  lustily  for  Marmaduke  Robins,  and 
he  answered  in  a  short,  sharp,  energetic  speech,  characteristic  of  the  un- 
tiring worker  and  ready  speaker  he  is.  As  the  crowd  pushed  around  the 
stand,  dark  as  pitch,  some  fellow  would  sing  out,  "don't  crowd  the 
ladies."  The  wagoners  hitched  up  late  at  night  aud  drove  home  with 
their  families,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to  go.  Gov.  Vance  left 
that  evening  for  Alfred  Brower's,  in  Moore  county. 

At  Carter's  Mill,  in  Moore,  the  crowd  was  two-thirds  radical. 
That  section  was  a  laying-out  place  during  the  war,  and  known  as  the 
"United  States."  Vance  wore  winning  feathers  when  the  sun  set 
that  evening.  He  had  the  drop  on  Settle  in  having  the  last  speech 
and  the  Judge  got  to  questioning  him.  Asked  him  if  he  wanted  North 
Carolina  to  pay  her  war  debt  ?  Vance  said  he  thought  a  portion  of 
the  school  fund  might  have  been  paid,  but  nothing  else. 

"  Now  let  me  ask  a  question,"  said  Vance,  "do  you  think  deser- 
tion right  or  wrong?  "  The  crowd  stood  thick  around  Vance,  nearly 
touching  him. 

Judge  Settle,  rising  :     "I  say  this,  if—  " 

Vance  :  "  Ah,  now,  now^ ;  no  dodging.  I  answered  you  right  out. 
Yes  or  no  ?  " 

Judge  Settle  then  said  if  a  man  was  conscripted  and  left  the  army 
because  of  strong  Union  proclivities,  he  thought  he  did  right. 

Vance:  "Now,  another  question,  since  questioning  is  the  order  of 
the  day:  Was  Holden  right  or  wrong  in  suspending  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus?" 

Settle,  again  rising  :     "The  principal —  " 

Vance:     "Ah,  now,  now,  now;  say  right  or  wrong." 

Judge  Settle  was  gesticulating  over  Vance's  shoulders,  and  the 
crowd  thick  around  them,  stood  peeping  up  for  an  answer. 

The  judge  was  understood  to  admit  that  at  such  a  peculiar  time, 
while  murders  were  going  on,  Holden,  under  the  new  constitution, 
had  the  discretion  to  do  as  he  did. 

Vance:  "Then  after  the  twenty-sixth  time,  I  have  at  last  got  an 
answer,  that  Holden  was  right  in  suspending  the  writ." 

Judge  Settle,  springing  to  his  feet  the  second  time,  declared  it  had 
never  been  decided  whether  Holden  had  the  right  or  not — it  was  still 
an  open  question. 

Vance  picked  up  a  pamphlet. 

Settle:     "I  know  what  you  are  going  to  read;  that  decision  on  us." 

Vance:  "No,  I.'m  not;  this  is  the  new  constitution.  It  says  that 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  never  be  suspended." 

The  crowd  could  not  help  laughing.     The  truth  is  Judge  Settle  was 


154  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

provoked,  and  yet  he  knew  to  get  mad  would  be  foolish,  and  still  his 
fine,  nervous  and  sensitive  nature  could  not  withstand  the  impertur- 
bability of  Vance's  questions  (and  such  questions  at  that)  without 
showing  that  he  was  right  smartly  exercised  in  mind. 

That  evening  after  speaking,  the  Judge  said: 

"Hang  you,  Vance,  you  do  take  so  man}-  turns  on  me  in  your 
replies." 

"The  Lord  is  with  me,"  said  Vance. 

"The  devil's  with  you,"  replied  the  Judge,  laughing. 

VANCE'S  TALK  AT  METROPOLITAN  HALL- 

In  a  brief  conversational  resume  of  his  campaign.  Governor  Vance 
declared  he  never  knew  such  enthusiasm  and  excitement  to  prevail 
among  the  people.  It  was  not  an  artificial  excitement,  but  a  singular 
instance  of  the  people  stirring  up  the  politicians.  He  had  entered 
Mitchell  county  knowing  it  had  not  given  Judge  Merrimon  more  than  a 
hundred  votes  in  the  last  campaign,  and  thinking  of  course  the  people 
were  one  to  three  against  him,  his  heart  sank  within  him  as  he  crossed 
Tow  river  and  entered  the  county.  About  three  miles  over  the  line, 
in  company  with  some  ten  men  they  came  to  a  spring  and  a  woman  sat 
on  the  grass  under  an  apple  tree.  She  came  to  bring  them  a  cup  to 
give  them  some  water,  and  seeing  him,  cried  out,  "  Great  goodness  ! 
ain't  that  Zeb.  Vance?  "  And  then  it  was,  said  Vance,  she  reversed 
the  order  of  things  as  they  had  it  on  me  in  Randolph,  and  instead  of 
my  squeezing  a  woman's  thumbs  under  the  fence,  she  hugged  me. 
Going  a  little  further  he  beheld  about  a  regiment  of  men  on  horse- 
back, and  they  waved  a  United  States  flag ;  they  were  coming  up  the 
hill  and  he  was  going  down  the  hill,  and  he  at  once  felt  down-hearted, 
for  he  thought  them  the  enemy  ;  but  they  raised  a  shout  and  it  was  the 
old  familiar  cry  for  Vance  and  Tilden.  They  call  it  Vance  and  Tilden 
up  that  way.  At  the  speaking  that  day  the  applause  was  fairly  divided 
between  him  and  Settle.  Then  again  at  Wilkesboro,  the  stronghold  of 
the  enemy,  a  cavalcade  rode  over  the  river  to  meet  Judge  Settle,  con- 
sisting of  a  revenue  officer  and  a  deputy  postmaster  and  took  their 
places  behind  his  competitor's  hack  in  a  procession  of  two.  A  short 
while  after  forty  men  rode  over  to  meet  him,  and  at  his  own  request 
they  fell  behind  the  conveyance  of  his  competitor  and  escorted  them 
both  into  town,  and  but  for  the  color  of  the  hair  and  the  look  out  of  the 
eyes  of  the  two  Settle  men  it  might  have  been  thought  that  Settle  was 
the  man  escorted  and  not  himself.  The  enthusiasm  was  increasingin- 
stead  of  subsiding,  a  perfect  groundswell  among  the  people,  and  the 
only  thing  was  to  keep  it  up  to  carry  the  State  by  several  thousand. 
The  Democrats  all  look  joyful  and  full  of  life,  while,  as  chicken  men 
would  say,  there  is  a  hacked  look  about  the  Republicans.  Even  crowds 
from  South  Carolina  had  come  over  to  hear  theuT  speak,  or  rather  to 
hear  me,  said  Vance,  for  they  are  straight-haired  people  over  there, 
and  I  take  all  the  compliment  to  myself,  like  the  negro   named  Alick, 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  1 55 

who  used  to  wait  on  the  executive  office  here  when  I  was  Governor. 
I  formed  quite  an  attachment  for  Alick  ;  he  was  an  honest,  good  negro. 
I  met  him  while  Holden  was  Governor,  and  he  was  still  waiting  oil  the 
executive  office,  and  I  said  to  him,  "  Alick,  I  am  glad  to  shake  the  hand 
of  an  honest  officer  in  this  department."  "  Yes,  sir,  "  he  replied, 
"  I  am  here  yit.  "  He  took  all  the  compliment  to  himself.  Governor 
Vance  closed  by  introducing  Major  Englehard  to  the  audience. 

VANCE  AND  SETTI.E  AT  I^EXINGTON. 

Judge  Settle  and  the  reporters  arrived  here  last  night  from  Greens- 
boro. The  News  and  Sentinel  men  put  up  at  Penny's  Hotel,  where 
they  were  joined  at  9  this  morning  by  Gov.  Vance,  who  came  in  from 
Charlotte,  whither  he  went  from  Greensboro  yesterday.  There  was  a 
sharp  frost  this  morning,  followed  by  a  clear,  bright  beautiful  day.  Peo- 
ple began  to  cram  the  town  at  an  early  hour.  When  Vance  appeared  upon 
the  street  he  was  immediately  surrounded  by  a  crowd,  who  followed 
him  everywhere  he  went.  Hundreds  waded  in  for  a  handshaking. 
To  one  persistent  chap  Vance  finally  remarked  :  "  Look  here,  you  are 
taking  advantage  of  the  rest  ;  you  shook  hands  with  me  up  yonder." 
One  man  came  up  and  accosted  Vance  with  the  remark;  "I  was  a 
deserter,  Governor. "  "Well,"  said  Vance,  "did  I  treat  you  like  a 
dog?"  "No,  I  reckon  not,"  was  the  reply.  "You  gave  me  a  20-days 
furlough  the  first  pop." 

United  States  Senator  Matt.  W.  Ransom  and  his  brother,  General 
Robert  Ransom,  were  present,  and  by  special  invitation  occupied  seats 
upon  the  stand.  An  appointment  had  been  made  some  weeks  before 
for  a  speech  at  this  same  place  to-day  from  Senator  Ransom,  which, 
however,  was  waived  on  account  of  the  joint  discussion.  The  meet- 
ing was  held  in  Lowe's  grove.  The  crowd  numbered  not  far  from 
4,000,  nearly  all  white.  The  ladies  came  out  numerously,  as  usual. 
Judge  Settle  opened  the  debate.  He  requested  that  he  might  receive 
no  applause  or  demonstration  of  any  kind  in  his  remarks,  as  he  should 
use  no  anecdotes,  and  suggested  rather  needlessly  that  all  such  mani- 
festations should  be  reserved  for  his  competitor.  He  said  it  would 
take  his  whole  time  to  read  the  list  of  Democratic  thieves,  but  he 
would  give  the  name  of  one  in  North  Carolina — the  late  superintend- 
ent of  public  instruction.  The  matter  of  finance,  taxes  and  govern- 
mental expense  was  then  gone  over  at  length.  He  next  took  up  the 
reconstruction  measures  adopted  by  the  radicals  after  the  war  and 
charged  that  the  rejection  of  the  Constitution  offered  to  the  people  by 
the  convention  of  1865  made  these  arbitrary  and  unconstitutional  acts 
necessary.  The  late  constitutional  convention  and  the  proposed 
amendments  were  animadverted  upon. 

In  denouncing  Hon.  E.  Ransom  he  remarked  he  was  glad  he  was 
no  connection  of  Senator  Ransom  and  his  distinguished  brother.  The 
war  matter  was  dilated  upon  at  length;  the  copied  letters,  now  pretty 
nearly  worn   out  by  use,   were  read    and   commented    upon,   and   a 


156  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

strenuous  appeal  was  made  to  the  passions  of  the  audience.  As  Settle 
concluded  there  were  loud  calls  and  cheers  for  Vance.  So  great  and 
general  was  the  enthusiasm,  almost  the  entire  audience  rising  and 
throwing  up  their  hats,  that  it  really  seemed  that  old  Davidson  county, 
though  heretofore  regarded  as  a  radical  stronghold,  was  about  unani- 
mous for  Vance.  The  crowd  increased  considerably  as  he  commenced. 
The  Governor  declared  that  he  came  to  speak  of  the  present  and  the 
future  and  not,  ghoul-like,  to  drag  to  light  the  corpse  of  the  dead  past. 
The  Republican  party  had  never  regarded  constitutional  limitations 
when  such  restrictions  stood  in  the  way  of  their  partisan  schemes;  but 
whenever  the  exigencies  of  party  demanded  it,  the  constitution  and 
laws  went  to  the  wall  and  were  disregarded.  The  means  taken  to  force 
the  adoption  of  the  Canby  constitution  were  signal  instances  of  this 
contempt  for  law.  Despite  the  fact  that  that  constitution  disfranchised 
no  one,  the  politico-military  condition  of  soldiers  and  carpet-baggers, 
instead  of  waiting  until  the  constitution  went  into  operation  before 
filling  the  offices  created  by  it,  thereby  giving  all,  entitled  by  its  pro- 
visions to  vote,  an  opportunity  to  participate  in  the  choice  of  their 
rulers,  the  election  of  State  officers  was  made  to  take  place  on  the  very 
same  three  days  on  which  the  instrument  itself  was  voted  on,  thus 
depriving  20,000  of  the  best  citizens  of  suffrage,  when  they  were  ex- 
pressly entitled  to  vote  for  all  officers,  both  State  and  county,  and 
could  have  done  so  had  the  election  of  those  officers  been  postponed  a 
few  weeks  later.  So,  four  years  ago,  Akerman  and  Delano,  members 
of  Grant's  Cabinet,  came  down  here  and  told  us  if  we  voted  for  Greeley 
we  would  be  remitted  to  military  rule.  The  arbitrary  order  of  Secre- 
tary Taft  relative  to  Federal  supervisions  was  severely  criticised.  A 
splendid  eulogy  was  pronounced  on  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  Kirk  said 
that  writ  was  "played  out  when  he  tore  it  into  gun  wadding.  Holden 
said  it  was  dead.  But  restirgani  was  written  on  its  tomb,  and  in 
August,  1870,  it  rose  again  to  the  tune  of  a  big  democratic  majority. 
Vance  then  went  into  the  expenditures  of  the  government,  promising  //i^^^ 
that  he  was  not  very  fond  of  figures,  particularly  when  they  were  on  a/ 
bill  which  some  fellow  presented  him  when  he  was  short  of  change. 
The  whole  speech  was  enlivened  by  similar  passages  of  humor,  which 
told  wonderfully  upon  the  multitude. 

In  response  to  Judge  Settle's  oft  repeated  charges  that  he  sent  men 
not  subject  to  conscription  into  the  army.  Governor  Vance  said  that  the 
only  man  within  his  personal  knowledge  who  was  "illegally  con- 
scripted and  rushed  off  to  the  front  before  he  could  kiss  his  wife  and 
babes,  much  less  apply  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,"  was  that  anti- 
quated bachelor.  Font  Taylord,  of  Raleigh,  who  had  no  wife  nor  babes 
to  kiss,  and  that  he  (Vance)  went  to  Richmond  and  had   him  turned 

loose. 

WentworTh,  October  17th,  1876. 

In  consequence  of  the  train  from  Charlotte  being  detained  three 

hours,  Gov.  Vance  and  Judge  Settle  could  not  get  away  from  Lexing- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  ^57 

ton  till  II  o'clock  a.  m.     On  our  arriving  at  Reidsville  we  found  at  least 
I  500  people  assembled  at  the  station,  including  a  delegation  of  some- 
Hng  Hke  200  from  Danville,  Va.     Vance  was  welcomed  with  the  usual 
acclamations  that  greet  him  everywhere.     The  press  about  hun  was  so 
great  that  he  found  right  smart  difficulty  m  getting  into  the  hoteL 
lome  misunderstanding  had  arisen  as  to  the  place  of   "^-^^"^g'J"^ 
numerous  conflicting  telegrams  and  posters  had  made  it  very^loubtfui 
whether  Reidsville  or  Wentworth  would  be  the  arena  of   the  grand 
gladiatorial  contest.     A  communication  was  received  from  Governor 
David   S.    Reid,    chairman    of    the    Rockingham   county    Democrat  c 
committee,  and  Mr.   Reynolds,  chairman  of  t^^-^^P^f  ^^"/^^f/, 
committee,  stating  that  3,000  people,  representing  by  far  the    arger 
pa"  of  th^  citizens  of  Rockingham,  had  assembledat  Wentworth  and 
requesting  that  the  appointment  should  by  no  "^^^  ^^^  ^^l^^f.f  ^[^^ 
Wentworth  to  Reidsville.     Governor  Vance  and  Judge   Settle  there 
upon  appeared  on  the  hotel  balcony  and  announced  that  the  discussion 
w'ould  'ale  place  at  Wentworth.     After  dinner  we  drove  to  the  pret  y 
village  of  Wentworth,  seven  miles  back  from  the  railroad.     The  road 
wasLly  but  free  from  rocks.     The  crowd  assembled  at  Wentworth 
had  been  dismissed  by  Governor  Reid  before  we  started  ;  but  most  of 
them  turned  back.     Governor  Vance  was  received  at  the  edge  of  town 
by  a  mounted  escort  and  a  brass  band.     He  proceeded  at  once  to  the 
oid  academy  grove  selected  for  the  speaking.     Ex-Governor  David  S^ 
Reid  occupied  a  seat  on  the  stand.     Fully  3,000  men  were  Present  but 
not  more  than   half  a  dozen  ladies,  who  sat  in  carnages  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  crowd.     I  counted  seven  and  one-half  men  up  trees.     The 
half  man  was  a  boy.  .  t,,,^. 

At  4  o'clock  p.  m.  Governor  Vance  opened  the  discussion.  Dur 
ing  the  speech  a  loose  mule  made  some  disturbance,  when  Vance 
remarked  that  it  was  only  one  of  those  mules  that  -ere  to  go  with 
the  forty  acres.  Governor  Vance  rather  changed  the  style  and  order 
of  his  speech  this  evening.  He  told  fewer  anecdotes  than  usua  . 
His  remarks  were  mainly  upon  the  tyranical  conduct  of  the  admin  - 
tration  towards  the  South,  the  flagrant  disregard  of  the  great  wnt 
habeas  corpus,  800  years  old,  the  misrule  and  — ^^^  ^^^.^^^^ 
Carolina,  the  attempt  to  overrun  the  people  by  supervision  of  elections 

fraud,  peculations  and  corruption  of  the  ^^^^^^^  .°f  ^^^^.^f  ^'^^ 
„atio;al  State  and  county  governments.  He  spoke  with  rapidity  and 
earnestness,  with  just  enough  touches  of  humor  to  relieve  the 
monotony  and  keep  his  remarks  from  being  tedious 

During  judge  Settle's  reply,  the  lateness  of  the  hour  made  the 
crowd  rather  restless,  then  Governor  Vance  asked  them,  as  a  matter 
oflustice  and  fair  play,  to  stay  and  hear  him  out.  As  the  darkness 
grew,  however,  many  went  away,  others  became  boisterous  and 
noisy  Two  lanterns  were  brought  and  placed  on  the  stand.  The 
interruption    continued.     Governor   Vance    rose   several    times    and 


158  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

pleaded  for  order.  Jvidge  Settle  finally  became  indignant  and 
remarked,  "I  don't  know  who  you  are,  whether  you  are  Virginians 
or  North  Carolinians,  but  I  do  know  you  are  behaving  like  scoundrels. 
You  who  are  interrupting  me  in  this  manner  are  no  gentlemen. 
Before  I  will  submit  to  such  interruption  I  will  close  my  remarks, 
although  there  are  several  points  I  proposed  to  speak  upon.  One 
drunken  blackguard  can  break  up  a  whole  meeting."  Judge  Settle 
closed  after  being  up  an  hour  and  a  quarter. 

Gov.  Vance  then  rose  and  said  that  as  Judge  Settle  had  jbeen  in- 
terrupted and  was  unable  to  fill  out  his  time,  he  would  w^ave  his  reply. 
The  large  crowd  then  quietly  dispersed.  Gov.  Vance  and  Judge  Settle 
drove  back  to  Reidsville,  where  we  expect  to  take  the  freight  train  at 
midnight  for  Greensboro.  Thence  they  go  to  Beaufort  to  meet  an  ap- 
pointment for  Thursday.  Next  day  at  Swift  Creek  village  the  big  joint 
canvass  of  the  centennial  year  winds  up. 

KiNSTON,  N.   C. ,  Oct.  23,   1876. 

Governor  Vance  and  party  left  Newbern  for  this  beautiful  rural 
village  at  5:40  a.  m.,  arriving  at  8  o'clock.  A  large  crowd  met  him  at 
the  depot  of  the  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina  railroad.  The  Greenville 
Cornet  Band  was  in  attendance.  A  horseman  bore  a  large  United 
States  flag.  When  Governor  Vance  left  the  cars  the  multitude  opened 
ranks,  forming  two  long  parallel  lines,  ten  deep  on  each  side,  facing 
inwards.  Profound  silence  was  maintained  till  Vance  appeared  at  the 
foot  of  this  double  line.  Then  three  sky-rending  cheers  arose,  as  if 
with  the  voice  of  one  man  and  he  a  giant.  Governor  Vance's  carriage 
was  escorted  through  the  main  streets  of  the  town  to  a  hotel  b}'  a  cav- 
alcade of  mounted  men,  followed  by  a  long  procession  in  vehicles  and 
on  foot.  The  ladies  thronged  the  porches  and  crowded  the  windows 
of  every  house,  waving  white  handkerchiefs  in  token  of  welcome  to 
the  coming  of  the  great  liberator  of  North  Carolina.  It  was  an  ova- 
tion such  as  a  Bolivar  or  a  Napoleon  might  envy.  Shortly  after  reach- 
ing the  hotel,  Governor  Vance,  accompanied  by  Hon.  John  F.  Wooten, 
appeared  upon  the  balcony,  in  response  to  the  unanimous  wish  of  the 
assembled  multitude.  He  said  nothing.  His  noble  presence  was 
sufficient  of  itself.  Bowing  in  courteous  acknowledgement  of  the 
warm  applause  that  greeted  him,  he  retired  to  his  room,  where  for  up- 
wards of  an  hour,  he  received  his  friends,  white  and  colored,  and 
shook  hands  with  them.  A  similar  reception  was  held  a  little  later  at 
the  office  of  Col.  Wooten,  the  Democratic  elector  for  the  second  con- 
gressional district. 

The  stand  for  the  speaking  was  erected  at  the  south  end  of  the 
Lenoir  county  court  house.  It  was  draped  in  pure  white,  beautifully 
festooned  with  cedar,  ivy,  holly  and  other  evergreens,  brightened  here 
and  there  with  flowers.  A  standard  at  one  end  of  the  platform  bore 
the  legend  :    "  Vance,  the  People's  Choice." 

Opposite  this  was  a  magnificent  American  flag.     On  the  stand  were 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  ^59 

a  number  of  the  oldest  citizens  of  the  county,  whose  venerable  forms 
and  heads  white  with  the  frosts  of  many  winters,  gave  an  impressive 
d  lity  o  tie  occasion.  Hundreds  of  beautiful  ladies  maids  and  ma- 
tron added  to  Vance's  reception  the  attractiveness  of  their  gloriou 
charms  In  the  rear  of  the  stand,  and  immediately  fronting  the  court 
tre  was  the  band  wagon,  handsomely  decorated^  I^Z^^IZ' 
bered  fully  3,000.     Many  citizens  were  present  from  Greene,  Wayne, 

^^"^rrvTnce::: introducedby  col.  Wooten.  He  commenced 
by  sa,°ng  that  in  the  absence  of  his  competitor  he  was  like  a  black- 
smith  beating  the  anvil  without  any  iron. 

Governo?  Vance's  first  proposition  was  that  it  was  necessary  to 
make  a  change  in  the  administration  of  the  State  and  national  govern- 
men  s  This'was  indicated  by  the  political  axiom  laid  ^own  in  all  on 
American  bills  of  rights  that  frequent  ^^.^^^^  ^"^^^^^^^f,^^^^^^^^^^ 
preservation  of  popular  freedom.  That  axiom  is  based  upon  the  idea 
Th  opportunity  for  a  change  of  parties  should  be  given  to  the  people^ 
Thefallacv  of  supporting  Hayes  as  a  change  from  Grant  was 
clearirSown.  It  is  fduck 'before  two  ducks,  a  duck  behind  two 
ducks   and  a  duck  between  two  ducks. 

Tie  Republican  party  came  into  power  the  4th  of  March,  i86x  and 
has  had  a  longer  lease  of  power  than  any  other  -  our  history.  What 
has  it  done,  and  what  is  its  history,  and  its  present  attitude  ? 

Constiutionsare  made   for   the   protection  of  minorities    agains 
the  tyranny  of  majorities.     They  are  intended  to  secure  the  rights  of 
the  weak  against  the  strong,  and  to  maintain  the  hberties  of  the  mdi- 

"'^ThfReTublican  party  is  the  legitimate  descendant  of  tl-  old  aboli- 
tion party,  Ihich  used  to  discard  the   constitution,  Bible,  the  church, 

and  even  God  himself.  .    ,     , 

sL  months  after  Congress  solemnly  declared  that  it  had  no  pur- 
pose to  interfere  with  slavery,  Lincoln  issued  his  Vrocl^-^^^^onoi 
emancipation,  thereby  giving  the  lie  to  ^l^^P^^^^^^^.^^  °?^^^  Pff^f^^ 
When  the  war  ended,  we  of  the  South  were  still  in  the  Union. 
We  had  not  fought  our  way  out,  and  were  held  by  all  the  departments 
of  the  Federal  government  to  be  still  in  the  Union.  Congress  passed 
!n  act  dissolving  the  very  Union  they  had  fought  four  years  for.  spent 
billions  of  dollars  and  sacrificed  thousands  of  lives  to  maintain 

They  passed  another  act  providing,  after  putting  us  out,  how  we 
might  come  back.  They  wanted  us  to  come  back,  if  we  came  at  all  as 
Jicals.     They    wanted  us  to  play  the  part  of  the    prodigal    son   b 

when  we  got  home,  we  were  marched  around  the  chimney  of  the  great 
house  right  slam  into  the  kitchen.  The  Louisiana  infamy  was  then 
det'led  and  commented  upon  at  length.  This  reconstruction  action 
was  most  flagrantly  violative  of  the  constitution.  Chief  Justice  Waite 
has  decided  Jhat  these  acts  of  Congress  attempting  to  regulate  suffrage 


l6o  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

in  the  States  were  unconstitutional.  For  this,  however,  the  radicals 
care  nothing.  The  radical  administration  has  never  hesitated  to  pass 
the  barriers  of  constitution  and  laws  when  party  exigencies  required 
it.  The  anarch}-  now  prevailing  in  South  Carolina  was  graphically 
portraj'ed.  The  multitudinous  arrests  now  being  made  in  that  State, 
evince  a  fixed  purpose  not  to  allow  a  fair  and  free  election.  And,  here 
in  North  Carolina,  John  Pool  declares  in  public  speeches  that  if  Tilden 
is  elected  bj-  the  vote  of  a  solid  South,  the  North  will  not  suffer  his 
inauguration. 

The  Governor  spoke  at  length  upon  the  subject  of  taxation  and 
corrupt  and  extravagant  expenditures  of  the  people's  money.  The 
best  government  in  the  world  is  that  which  is  cheapest.  When  money 
abounds  in  the  Treasury  there  will  be  much  more  abuse.  Radicalism 
has  inaugurated  a  corruption,  a  venality,  a  misappropriation  of  the 
public  funds,  unparalleled  in  history.  Jobbery,  rings,  peculation, 
fraud,  have  fattened  upon  the  Federal  Treasury.  The  rottenness  of 
the  radical  biscuit  was  illustrated  by  the  story  of  the  boy  and  the  cod- 
fish ball  at  the  hotel.  From  1789  to  1861 — 72  years — 1,581  million  dol- 
lars covered  the  entire  expense  of  the  general  government.  In  the 
14  years  since  the  cost  has  been  5,220  millions,  or — leaving  out  the 
four  years  of  the  war — 2,034  millions  in  the  last  10  j-ears. 

In  the  whole  course  of  Vance's  speech,  he  made  no  statements  of 
either  facts  or  figures  at  all  varying  from  those  made  by  him  in  the 
joint  discussions  throughout  the  State  with  Judge  Settle.  The  speech 
was  eminently  honest,  ingenuous  and  fair  ;  and  it  impressed  its  hearers 
as  such. 

In  characterizing  the  40,000  internal  revenue  ofiicers,  Vance  said 
they  could  look  at  a  man's  track  in  the  sand  and  tell  whether  he  was 
toting  a  quart  or  a  four  gallon  jug.  They  can  smell  your  breath  at 
10  o'clock  a.  m.  and  tell  whether  the  dram  you  took  before  breakfast 
was  tax-paid  or  not.  The  "designated  assistant  United  States  Inter- 
nal Revenue  Assessors,"  appointed  in  1872  in  North  Carolina,  at  $5.00 
per  day,  were  commissioned  for  the  express  purpose  of  aiding  the 
radicals  in  their  campaign  ;  and  the  people  had  to  pay  the  cost  of 
them.  A  diminutive  but  fat  and  portly  specimen  of  these  gentry  was 
exhibited  in  the  form  of  a  red-legged,  Nebraska  corn-eating  grass- 
hopper, corked  up  in  a  phial  and  up  to  his  chin  in  whiskey,  his 
congenial  element. 

North  Carolina  was  pre-eminently  an  agricultural  vState,  having 
but  little  commercial  or  manufacturing  interest  as  compared  with 
other  States.  Upon  communities  thus  mainl)^  made  up  of  farmers, 
the  weight  of  taxation  always  falls  most  heavily. 

The  only  reply  of  the  radicals  to  the  charges  of  corruption  and 
malfeasance  is  "war!  war!  war!"  Is  it  any  reason  that  you  should 
support  thieves  because  I  and  my  friends  were  war  men  ?  Vote  for 
Tilden  and  Hendricks.     A  change  ma}-  help,   but  cannot  hurt  us.     If 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  l6l 

the  men  the  Democrats  put  in  power  go  back  on  you,  turn  them  out. 
Keep  turning  out  and  turning  out  until  you  get  honest  men  in  office — 
till  you  get  men  who  will  give  us  a  government — men  who  will  fear 
the  people  if  not  the  Lord. 

Governor  Vance  then  paid  his  regards  to  the  injurious  reports 
which  had  been  circulated  against  him  ;  such  as  that  he  had  a  woman 
hanged  to  get  her  money  when  Confederate  currency  was  worth  about 
300  to  I  in  specie.  No  order  of  his  ever  sanctioned  cruelty.  He  had 
challenged  a  vigorous  scrutiny  of  his  adjutant  general's  order  book. 
That  book  could  not  be  found  in  Raleigh.  It  had  disappeared.  He 
next  spoke  of  the  "garbled  letters,"  and  said,  "I  am  proud  of  my 
war  record.  I  only  wish  you  and  all  men  could  see  it  all.  It  shows 
that  I  steadfastly  sustained  the  civil  authority  as  paramount  to  the 
military  power  wherever  and  whenever  they  came  in  conflict.  During  ■ 
the  four  years  of  our  civil  war  but  two  American  Governors  did  this. 
They  were  Horatio  Seymour,  of  New  York,  and  myself.  I  told  Jeff. 
Davis,  through  Secretary  Seddou,  that  in  the  absence  of  any  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Confederate  States,  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  North  Carolina  were  law  to  me  ;  and  if  they  were  not  respected  I 
would  call  upon  the  militia  of  my  State  to  enforce  them,  and  further 
that  I  would  issue  a  proclamation  recalling  the  North  Carolina  troops 
from  Lee's  army." 

Towards  the  close.  Governor  Vance  addressed  a  few  earnest  and 
manly  words  to  the  colored  people  present.  He  told  an  anecdote  of 
the  man  who  gave  his  hands  watermelon  to  fill  them  up  before  meal 
time  to  save  meat  and  bread  ;  also  of  the  little  Guinea  nigger  he  met 
in  Yadkin  who  had  "  taken  notice  that  the  Democratic  niggers  always 
wore  the  best  breeches." 

Governor  Vance  mentioned  iucidently  that  this  was  his  69th  speech 
in  65  counties  of  the  State  during  this  canvass.  The  same  enthusiasm 
had  been  witnessed  everywhere.  There  had  been  nothing  like  it  since 
Governor  Morehead's  campaign  in  1840,  when  he  spoke  almost  daily 
from  March  to  November. 

Governor  Vance  spoke  two  hours  and  a  quarter,  closing  amidst 
immense  applause.  A  fragrant  and  beautiful  boquet  was  presented 
to  him  on  behalf  of  the  ladies  of  Lenoir.  Other  boquets  then  came  up  in- 
formally. The  band  struck  up  an  inspiring  air,  and  the  great  crowd 
gradually  broke  up  and  dispersed. 

This  ended  one  of  the  most  memorable  campaigns  in 

the  history  of  the  State.     The   people   were   thoroughly 

aroused  from  the  seaboard  to  the  mountains.  And  although 

the    Republicans    had    had    complete    control    of    all    the 

departments  of   the  State   government   as  well  as  of  the 

national  government,  ever  since  the  close  of  the  war  and 

12 


l62  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

had  all  the  election  machinery  in  their  own  hands,  with 
unlimited  supplies  of  money  for  campaign  purposes,  and 
although  Settle  was  by  far  the  strongest  and  most  popular 
Republican  in  the  State,  yet  Vance  was  elected  by  a  very 
large  majority.       ^^^.-^y^,       ■;c^^.^■    j  "^  o  ^^  o     t-w     '^-^  ^3C>■i 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  163 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

SYMPOSIUM. 

Intelligent  Analysis  of  His  Characteristics— Strong  Portraitures  of 
His  Boyhood— Early  Manhood  and  Mature  Life— His  Pranks- 
Fondness  for  Good  Books— Studious  Habits— His  Consciousness 
of  His  Own  Strength— His  Home  Life— Strong  Domestic  Attach- 
ments—Love of  Wife  and  Children— His  Official  Life— Hard 
Methodical  Worker— Great  Executive  Ability— His  Oratory- 
Power  With  the  Masses— His  Fondness  for  the  Common  People— 
Their  Wonderful  Love  and  Admiration  of  Him— All  Told  in  Pleas- 
ing Style  by  Able  and  Discriminating  Writers— Richard  H.  Battle, 
Joseph  P.  Caldwell,  Walter  Clark,  William  R.  Cox,  Wharton  J. 
Green,  Edward  J.  Hale,  Wade  Hampton,  Hamilton  C.  Jones, 
James  D.  Mclver,  William  J.  Montgomery,  William  M.  Robbins, 
and  Alfred  M.  Waddell. 

THE  following  articles  from  prominent  citizens  of  North 
Carolina,  who  knew  Vance  more  or  less  intimately 
and  had  opportunity  to  observe  and  study  his  traits  and 
characteristics,  taken  together  present  a  grand  picture  of 
the  man,  and  show  in  a  striking  manner,  not  only  his  strong 
points  of  character,  but  also  the  secret  of  his  great  popu- 
larity and  influence  with  the  people  : 

[From  Richard  H.  Battle.] 
My  personal  acquaintance  with  Governor  Vance  dates  from  July, 
1851,  when,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  went  to  Chapel  Hill  to  read 
law  with  my  father,  the  late  Judge  Battle,  and  Hon.  S.  F.  Phillips,  and 
take  a  partial  course  with  the  Senior  class  in  the  University.  I  was  a 
boy  of  fifteen,  just  turned  Sophomore  ;  but  as  young  Vance  became  a 
member  of  the  Dialectic  Society,  of  which  I  was  a  very  attached  mem- 
ber, besides  reciting  his  law  lessons  in  my  father's  office,  my  acquain- 
tance with  him  was  sufficiently  intimate  for  me  to  form  a  fair  estimate 
of  his  acquirements  and  ability.  In  the  debates  of  the  society  in  which 
he  actively  participated  he  sometimes  exhibited  an  intimate  acquain- 
tance with  the  Bible,  and  some  of  the  English  classics,  notably  Shak- 
speare  and  Sir  Walter  Scott ;  and  he  often  interspersed  his  arguments 
on  the  "query"  for  the  evening,  with  humorous  sallies  and  flashes  of 


164  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

wit,  which  much  enlivened  the  dullness  of  the  debates.  The  law  of 
the  society  against  ajidible  smiling  he  regarded  himself,  for  his  cus- 
tom was  not  to  laugh  at  his  own  wit,  but  fines  for  the  infringement  of 
this  law  were  sometimes  poured  into  the  treasury  from  the  inability  of 
his  hearers  to  restrain  their  risibles  when  Vance  would  meet  the  solemn 
arguments  of  his  adversary  with  sparkling  repartee  or  a  funny  illus- 
tration. While  he  studied  so  well  as  to  make  a  decided  impression 
upon  his  instructors  in  the  law  and  in  the  college  course,  his  bo7i  Diots 
were  soon  quoted  with  glee  through  the  village  as  well  as  the  college 
buildings.  "  Have  you  heard  Vance's  last?  "  was  a  question  very  fre- 
quently asked. 

Looking  back,  now,  at  the  fifteen  years  of  my  life  at  Chapel  Hill  as  a 
boy,  and  as  student  and  instructor  in  the  University,  I  am  of  the  opin- 
ion that  no  one  during  that  period  made  such  an  impression  in  so  short 
a  time  as  did  young  Vance,  except  possibly  (and  in  a  different  way) 
Gen.  J.  Johnson  Pettigrew,  who  displayed,  during  his  college  career,  a 
capacity  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and  to  comprehend  abstruse 
mathematics  that  was  almost  marvelous. 

Vance  was  possessed  of  remarkable  tact,  and  was  equally  popular 
with  his  instructors,  his  fellow  collegians  and  the  villagers,  whose  ac- 
quaintance he  sought.  He  and  Mrs.  Spencer,  then  Miss  Cornelia 
Phillips,  one  of  the  most  intellectual  women  of  the  day,  became  fast 
friends  and  their  friendship  continued  until  his  death.  President 
Swain,  old  Dr.  Mitchell,  and  his  instructors  in  law  recognized  Vance's 
talent  and  promise  for  the  future  ;  but  few  of  his  fellow  students  an- 
ticipated his  subsequent  brilliant  career.  Some  thought  he  was  too 
fond  of  fun  and  given  to  levity,  to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  life  seri- 
ously. To  be  "as  solemn  as  an  ass  "  seemed  to  them  a  better  indication 
for  those  who  would  aspire  to  leadership  in  after  life.  I  remember 
having  to  defend  Col.  Vance  against  the  charge  of  being  a  mere  jester, 
suggested  by  ofl&cers  in  the  army,  when  the  vote  was  about  to  be  taken 
for  him  and  the  late  Col.  Wm.  Johnston  for  the  ofl&ce  of  Governor,  in 
August,  1862.  His  witticisms  and  anecdotes  had  become  the  subject  of 
merriment  throughout  the  State,  and  many  could  not  believe  that  the 
same  man  could  be  so  witty  and  at  the  same  time  wise  enough  to  be 
the  Governor  of  a  State. 

Reflecting  upon  his  young  manhood,  I  wonder  when  Vance  first 
recognized  his  superior  ability,  and  that  he  was  destined  for  a  distin- 
guished career.  His  year  at  Chapel  Hill,  and  the  opportunity  he  had  to 
measure  himself  with  young  men  of  ability,  who  had  made  good  use 
of  much  better  advantages  for  intellectual  training  than  had  been  his, 
doubtless  gave  him  confidence  in  his  native  powers  and  what  he  was 
then  acquiring,  which  contributed  to  his  early  and  rapid  advancement. 
He  then  acquired  an  additional  power  to  measure  men  and  things  as 
they  were,  and  without  undue  self-esteem  he  could  see  that  he  pos- 
sessed natural  gifts  which  fitted  him  to  contend  for  public  honors  in 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  1 65 

the  battle  of  life.  So  he  became  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  the  lower 
house  of  the  State  Legislature  soon  after  he  began  the  practice  of  law, 
in  his  native  county,  and,  being  elected,  served  during  the  session  of 
1^54-55-  He  contended  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate  in  the  next  General  As- 
sembly with  Col.  David  Coleman,  the  most  popular  Democrat  in  the 
county  of  Buncombe,  but  was  defeated  by  a  much  reduced  majority  in 
the  senatorial  district.  In  the  summer  of  1858,  against  the  advice  of  rela- 
tives and  friends  and  very  heavy  odds,  he  aspired  still  higher,  and 
contested  with  W.  W.  Avery,  Esq.,  of  Burke,  an  able  and  experienced 
politician,  a  seat  in  Congress,  made  vacant  by  Hon.  T.  L.  Clingman's 
elevation  to  the  United  States  Senate.  To  the  suprise  of  the  people  of 
the  State  he  was  triumphantly  elected.  He  had  learned  something  of 
his  power  to  sway  the  minds  of  men, and  especially  to  capture  the  young, 
but  hardly  realized  what  might  be  the  limitations  of  his  influence. 
He  knew  himself  better  than  others  knew  him,  and  he  was  not  made 
at  all  vain  or  conceited,  because,  to  use  his  peculiar  phrase,  he  had 
"  set  the  mountains  on  fire,"  and  in  one  campaign  made  a  change  of 
4,500  votes. 

I  will  not  invade  the  province  of  the  historian  of  his  life  by  tell- 
ing of  his  career  in  Congress,  on  the  hustings,  between  1858  and  iS6r, 
and  as  captain  of  a  company  and  colonel  of  a  regiment  from  April, 
1861  to  August,  1862.  The  world  knows  how  creditable  it  was  to  him 
and  his  State.  I  will  only  allude  to  the  wonderful  reputation  he 
gained,  as  a  popular  orator,  when  Whigs  and  Conservatives  from  all 
parts  of  the  State  met  in  mass-meeting  in  Salisbury  to  make  a 
stand  for  the  Union,  in  i860.  Notwithstanding  that  Morehead,  and 
Graham,  and  Badger  and  other  men  of  acknowledged  ability  and  influ- 
ence were  there,  young  Vance  became  the  idol  of  the  multitude.  The 
magnetic  effect  of  his  set  oration  in  the  day  and  his  shorter  speeches 
at  street  corners,  to  one  and  another  of  which  he  was  almost  drag- 
ged by  excited  friends,  at  night,  was  such  that  the  whole  State  rang 
with  his  praises.  The  great  and  logical  Badger,  on  his  return  to  Ral- 
leigh,  said  to  an  intimate  friend  :  "  You  ought  to  have  heard  young 
Vance  at  Salisbury  !  He  is  the  greatest  stump  speaker  that  ever 
was  !  "  Wonderful  praise  from  such  a  man  ! 

All  who  was  privileged  to  hear  the  speech  he  delivered  in  front  of 
the  Court  House  in  Raleigh,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  would  not  qualify 
much  this  apparently  extravagant  praise  of  Mr.  Badger.  He  was  then 
a  candidate  for  re-election,  opposed  by  W.  W.  Holden,  the  editor  of  the 
Raleigh  Standard,  and  who  two  j-ears  before  had  been  his  fast  friend. 
Mr.  Holden's  paper  was  insidiously  throwing  discredit  on  the  Confed- 
erate cause,  and  he  was  understood  to  be  a  peace  candidate.  He  had 
many  friends  and  adherents  in  Raleigh,  including  the  editor  of  the 
Daily  Progress,  and  more  in  the  country  around,  and  his  opposition  was 
formidable.  Governor  Vance  had  to  capture  or  negative  the  influence 
of   these  men,  and  at  the  same  time  give   no  offence  to  the  original 


1 66  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

secessionists,  some  of  whom  could  not  yet  fully  trust  one  who  had 
once  been  such  an  advocate  for  the  Union.  He  was  between  two  fires. 
In  the  speech  of  two  or  three  hours  he  made  that  day,  he  captured  the 
entire  large  audience.  He  at  least  silenced  all  opposition.  By  nature, 
candid  and  sincere,  he  resolved  to  fire  the  patriotism  of  his  hearers  by 
giving  full  expression  to  that  which  burned  in  his  own  breast.  He 
spoke  like  one  inspired ,  and  the  response  to  his  arguments  and  ap- 
peals was  all  he  could  have  wished.  Ladies  were  there  in  numbers, 
peering  from  the  windows  or  sitting  in  carriages  in  front  of  the  Yar- 
boro  House.  The  street  was  full  of  men  and  boys,  all  intensely  eager 
to  catch  every  word.  Cheers  and  tears  alternated  with  heartiest 
laughter,  as  he  would  occasionally  relieve  the  tension  of  his  audience 
by  an  apt  anecdote  or  an  amusing  story.  For  true  eloquence,  pathos, 
wit,  sarcasm,  irony  and  scathing  denunciation  I  have  never  heard  that 
speech  excelled.  I  have  doubted  whether  Henry  Clay  himself  could 
have  delivered  one  more  effective. 

My  acquaintance  with  Governor  Vance  was  most  intimate  during 
the  last  three  years  of  the  war,  when,  as  Governor  of  the  State,  he 
developed  his  phenomenal  talents  and  powers  of  administration  and 
leadership.  Without  any  privity  on  my  part  (but  probably  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  our  common  friend,  Governor  Swain,  president  of  the 
Universit}^  opportunely  for  me— for  my  health  was  failing  in  the 
army),  I  was  invited  to  become  his  private  secretary,  upon  his  inaugu- 
ration as  Governor,  September  8th,  1862.  I  filled  that  position  until 
August,  1864,  when,  on  the  resignation  of  Hon.  S.  P\  Phillips,  to  be- 
come a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Orange  county,  I  was  appointed 
State  Auditor  by  Governor  Vance,  and  continued  in  that  ofiice  and 
daily  association  with  him  until  the  end  of  the  war.  During  these 
three  years  I  was  honored  with  his  confidence  and,  I  may  add,  his 
affectionate  friendship.  I  had  ample  opportunity  to  form  an  estimate 
of  his  character,  disposition  and  talents.  It  is  said  that  the  "  great- 
ness of  most  men  diminishes  with  distance."  It  was  not  so  with 
Governor  Vance.  Sometimes  when  he  needed  my  assistance  in  copy- 
ing and  arranging  his  messages  to  the  Legislature  and  other  papers  for 
the  public,  that  we  might  not  be  subject  to  interruption,  as  we  would 
constantly  have  been  in  the  executive  office,  we  took  refuge  in  his 
home  in  the  old  "  Governor's  Palace  "  at  the  southern  end  of  Fayette- 
ville  street ;  and  there  we  spent  the  day.  During  the  recess  for  dinner 
I  saw  him  in  familiar  intercourse  with  his  family,  his  wife  and  little 
boys.  I  have  often  remarked,  as  the  result  of  my  observation  under 
these  circumstances,  that  he  never  appeared  to  greater  advantage  than 
in  his  own  home  with  his  family.  Kind,  attentive  and  indulgent  to  his 
wife  and  children,  and  considerate  of  the  feelings  of  the  servants,  noth- 
ing of  the  roughness  or  want  of  refinement,  which  one  would  naturally 
expect  in  a  successful  politician  from  our  mountain  district,  as  it  then 
was,  appeared  in  my  host  in  those  half  hours  of  recreation.     Though  in 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  167 

the  midst  of  weighty  affairs  of  State,  when  called  to  dinner  he  threw 
them  off  as  we  entered  the  dining  room,  and  he  was  as  easy,  natural  and 
sparkling  with  his  wife,  children  and  single  guest,  as  if  he  hadn't  a  care 
upon  him.  He  acted  as  if  he  realized  that  his  "  little  red-haired  wife," 
as  he  sometimes  playfully  called  her  (her  hair  being  a  pretty  auburn), 
had  cares  enough  of  her  own,  in  looking  after  her  servants  and  four 
vivacious  little  boys  ;  and  his  manner  and  words  were  calculated  to 
make  her  forget  them,  and  for  the  time  to  see  only  the  bright  side  of 
a  wife's  and  mother's  life.  That  she  looked  to  "husband"  as  the 
embodiment  of  all  that  was  chivalrous  and  tender,  and  he  to  "  wife  " 
as  the  divinity  of  his  home,  was  unmistakable.  Perhaps  he  was  too 
much  inclined  to  indulge  the  children  and  intercede  for  them  when 
the  mother,  with  stricter  notions  of  discipline,  would  curb  their  ebu- 
litions  of  vivacity  or  surplus  energy.  They  were  devoted  to  him,  but 
hardly  more  so  than  was  Alex  Moore,    the   servant  of  the   executive 

office,  or  William ,  who  blacked  his  shoes,  worked  the  garden  and 

waited  on  the  table  at  the  "  Palace." 

I  need  not  speak  of  his  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor. The  history  of  the  State,  and  of  the  war  between  the  States, 
records  that  he  was  the  great  War-Governor  of  the  South,  as  Morton, 
of  Indiana,  was  of  the  North.  But  I  should  allude  to  the  wonderful 
tact  and  versatility  he  displayed,  and  by  which  he  overcame  the  preju- 
dices, on  one  hand,  of  the  original  secessionists,  who  had  opposed  his 
election  because  of  his  warm  affection  for  the  Union  before  1861,  and 
those,  on  the  other,  of  some  whose  sympathies  were  hardly,  at  any 
time,  with  the  Confederacy.  He  soon  succeeded  in  convincing  the 
former  that  the  war  being  on,  North  Carolina's  honor  was  pledged  to 
its  vigorous  prosecution,  and  that  when  he  drew  the  sword  to  fight 
her  battles  he  had  thrown  away  the  scabbard  ;  while  his  protesting, 
almost  to  the  point  of  rupture,  against  infringment  of  the  reserved 
rights  of  the  State  and  her  citizens  by  the  government  at  Richmond, 
convinced  the  latter  that  North  Carolina  was  safe  under  his  leader- 
ship. His  cordiality  to  all  who  approached  him  won  personal  favor, 
and  his  cheerfulness  was  inspiring  to  many  who  were  naturally  despon- 
dent. Into  his  office,  day  after  day,  streamed  men  and  women  of  all 
conditions  of  life,  with  all  sorts  of  schemes  for  his  adoption,  petitions 
for  him  to  grant  or  refuse,  and  grievances,  real  or  imaginary,  for  him 
to  redress.  The  Legislature  was  much  of  the  time  in  regular  or  extra 
session,  and,  having  the  confidence  of  most  of  its  members,  he  was 
looked  to  for  advice  as  to  all  matters  affecting  our  relations  to  the 
Confederate  government,  the  home  guard,  etc.,  indeed  as  to  all  matters 
of  much  importance. 

He  took  great  interest  in  public  education  and  the  corpora- 
tions of  which  the  State  had  part  control ;  and  the  Board  of  Internal 
Improvement,  the  members  of  which  were  appointed  by  him,  were 
frequently   in   session.      Rev.    Dr.     Calvin    H.    Wiley,    the   able   and 


l68  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

zealous  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  found  in  him  an  ever 
warm  supporter.  The  salt  works  on  the  coast,  needed  to  supply  our 
people  with  salt,  demanded  his  care  ;  and  his  enterprise  for  furnish- 
ing our  soldiers  with  clothing  and  the  women  at  home  with  cotton 
cards,  etc.,  by  the  "  Advance  "  and  other  blockade  runners,  required 
much  attention.  Then  his  correspondence  with  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  War,  at  Richmond,  demanded  both  thought  and  labor. 
So  the  burden  upon  him  was  very  heavy  ;  and  the  two  Aids  in  his 
ofl&ce.  Colonels  Geo.  Little  and  D.  A.  Barnes,  and  Mr.  A.M.  McPheeters, 
executive  clerk,  and  myself  were  kept  constantly  busy— while  he  did 
much  writing  with  his  own  hand.  The  more  important  letters  to  the 
Confederate  authorities  were  generally  in  his  own  handwriting. 

As  he  never  refused  an  audience  to  any  caller,  it  seems  almost 
marvelous  that  he  found  time  to  do  all  he  did.  Doubtless  he  would 
have  broken  down  but  for  his  very  vigorous  constitution  and  the  buoy- 
ancy of  his  spirits.  He  often  found  amusement  and  recreation  in 
interviews  with  unsophisticated  people,  and  he  would  frequently  drop 
into  our  ofl&ce  and  amuse  us  with  something  funny  that  had  been 
said.  'For  example,  he  told  of  a  singular  request  for  help  from  a 
countrywoman.  "  Governor,"  she  said,  "I  want  5'ou  to  search  the 
records  and  see  when  I  was  married.  They  want  to  conscript  my  son 
John,  and  I  say  that  he  is  not  old  enough."  "  Well,"  said  he,  "sup- 
pose I  find  out  when  you  were  married,  how  can  I  tell  when  John  was 
born  ?"  "  Oh,  Sir  !  There  is  no  trouble  about  that  !  John  was  born 
just  three  months  before  we  was  married."^ 

One  of  his  most  devoted  friends  was  old  "  Aunt  Abby  House,  " 
from  Franklin.  She  was  a  privileged  character,  and  it  was  difficult  to 
prevent  her  going  into  the  Governor's  office  at  her  own  pleasure,  what- 
ever might  be  his  engagements.  Though  an  ardent  Confederate,  she 
thought  there  were  often  good  reasons  why  her  two  favorite  nephews 
should  be  excused  from  the  army  ;  and  Governor  Vance  must  write  to 
the  President,  Secretary  of  War  or  General  Lee,  in  their  behalf.  He 
used  to  repeat  with  glee  a  diplomatic  letter  he  wrote  General  Lee  asking 
for  a  furlough  for  her  nephew,  Jack  D.,  who  she  claimed  was  not  in 
good  health.  It  was  to  the  effect  that  Jack  -was  patriotic,  but  he  pre- 
ferred service  at  home  rather  than  in  the  field  ;  and  from  the  best 
information  he  could  get  from  Jack's  aunt,  the  bearer,  he  supposed 
that  the  odor  of  a  combination  of  nitrate  of  potash,  sulphur  and  carbon 
(gun-powder)  in  combustion  was  the  best  tonic  for  jack's  nervous  sys- 
tem. She  bore  the  letter  off  triumphantly  and  made  her  way  to  General 
Lee's  camp  in  Virginia.  In  a  fortnight  or  so  she  was  back  in  the  Gov- 
ernor's office,  and  to  his  surprise  she  was  more  friendly  than  ever. 
"Well,  Aunt  Abby,"  he  said,  "did  you  give  my  letter  to  General 
Lee?  "  "  Of  course  I  did,  and  I  got  Jack  a  furlough,  too.  "  "  What 
did  General  Lee  say  when  he  read  the  letter?  "  "  He  laughed  and  said 
that  Vance  was  a  mighty  smart  feller.  " 


LIFE   OF   VANCF.  169 

Amid  all  these  enga^etiients  Governor  Vance  somehow  found  time 
to  do  some  reading,  for  improvement  as  well  as  for  recreation.  He  as- 
similated whatever  he  read  to  a  remarkable  degree  ;  and  it  was  his 
custom  to  read  good  and  useful  books.  I  remember  his  frequently  re- 
ferring to  Motley's  "  Dutch  Republic,  "  which  he  read  during  the  war, 
as  offering  lessons  of  encouragement  to  us  in  the  dark  days  of  the  Con- 
federacy'— and  so  of  other  books.  The  improvement  of  his  style  in 
writing,  as  the  result  of  practice  and  reading  during  the  first  part  of 
his  career  as  Governor,  was  striking  to  us,  through  whose  hands  his 
letters  passed.  His  later  messages,  proclamations,  etc.,  were  models 
of  their  kind — terse  and  vigorous  sentences,  breathing  devotion  to  duty 
and  patriotic  fervor.     Some  of  them  were  truh'  eloquent. 

The  gaudium  certauiinis  was  as  strong  with  him  as  if  he  were  in 
the  forefront  of  the  battles.  North  Carolina  had  pledged  her  faith  to 
her  sisters  of  the  South,  and  she  must  do  her  full  part.  To  him  it  was 
owing,  chiefly,  that  she  did  it  so  nobly.  He  saw  to  it  that  every  man 
liable  to  military  duty  under  the  law  was  put  in  place  to  perform  that 
duty  ;  but  when  those  not  liable  claimed  protection  from  the  enrolling 
ofl&ce,  he  was  vigilant  to  see  that  they  had  all  the  benefit  of  habeas 
corpus,  from  our  State  judges,  to  make  good  their  exemption.  Timid 
men  in  the  Confederate  Congress  from  different  States  and  in  our  State 
Legislature,  and  others,  in  the  dark  days  towards  the  end  of  the  strug- 
gle, suggested  to  him  to  end  the  war  by  calling  the  North  Carolina 
soldiers  home  from  Virginia,  Tennessee  and  Georgia.  "  No,  "  he  said, 
with  fiery  energy  and  ringing  words.  "  Our  State's  honor  demands 
that  her  soldiers  shall  be  among  the  last  to  leave  the  battle  fields  of  the 
South,  if  defeat  must  come.  "  And  to  the  last  he  bent  all  his  great 
energies  to  the  end  that  their  ranks  be  kept  as  full  as  disease  and  death 
would  permit,  and  that  they  be  better  clothed  than  the  soldiers  of 
other  States.  The  store  of  blue  blankets  and  grey  cloth,  he  had 
provided  for  them,  was  not  exhausted  when  Lee  surrendered  at  Ap- 
pomatox  and  Johnston  at  Durham.  That  they  and  their  friends  remem- 
bered his  loving  care  for  them  and  his  devotion  to  the  State  was 
manifest  by  the  enthusiasm  with  which  they  bore  him,  in  spite  of  all 
obstacles,  into  the  Governor's  office  so  triumphantly,  once  more,  after 
the  lapse  of  eleven  years  of  forced  retirement  on  his  part  and  patriotic 
waiting  on  theirs.  His  inaugural  of  1877  and  his  messages  to  the  Leg- 
islatures of  1877  and  1S79  showed  that  he  was  as  true  to  the  State's 
honor  and  best  interests  and  as  resourceful  as  ever.  As  friend  and 
neighbor  I  saw  how  he  labored  to  put  North  Carolina  abreast  with  the 
more  advanced  States  of  the  Union  in  whatever  might  conduce  to  her 
prosperity  and  permanent  welfare. 

In  the  fall  of  1884,  when  the  Cleveland  and  Scales  campaign  in 
which  he  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part,  was  in  full  blast,  I  being  the 
chairman  of  the  State  Democratic  committee,  he  and  the  second  Mrs. 
Vance   were   my  guests    for   a   few  days  ;  and  I  again  had  an  oppor- 


1 7©  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

tuiiity  of  intimate  acquaintance  with  him.  I  found  him,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-four,  wiser  and  broader  in  his  sympathies,  and  as  zealous  for  the 
public  weal  as  he  had  been  twenty  years  before,  while  his  humor  was 
as  genial  and  his  wit  as  sparkling  as  of  yore,  and  his  gentleness  with 
old  friends,  and  his  good  wife,  were  such  as  to  win  as  much  admiration 
from  younger  people  who  had  not  before  known  him,  as  the  great 
speeches  he  made  here  and  elsewhere  were  commanding.  I  and  mine 
felt  to  him  as  to  a  near  relation,  and  the  reputation  he  was  making  in 
the  United  States  Senate  was  a  source  of  personal,  as  well  as  State, 
pride  with  us,  and  the  effects  of  the  insidious  disease  from  which  he 
first  lost  an  eye,  and  which  gradually  sapped  his  health  and  strength, 
were  watched  by  us  with  painful  anxiety. 

I  will  ever  regard  it  as  a  prized  honor  that,  on  his  death,  my  friend- 
ship for  him  was  recognized  by  Governor  Carr  by  his  appointing  me 
with  two  State  officers.  Col.  S.  McD.  Tate  and  Capt.  Oct.  Coke,  as  a 
menaber  of  a  committee  to  attend  his  funeral  in  the  Senate  chamber 
at  Washington,  and  accompany  his  body  to  the  capitol  in  Raleigh  and 
then  to  its  place  of  burial  at  Asheville. 

[From  Joseph  P.  Caldwell.] 
The  subject  of  this  book  was  so  well  known  to  every  North  Caro- 
linian that  almost  any  one  might  pass  an  accurate  judgment  upon  him. 
For  thirty-three  years  he  went  in  and  out  among  the  people  and  his 
name,  his  face  and  his  figure  were  familiar,  while  his  mental  processes 
and  the  range  of  his  intellect  were  fairly  measured  by  all  men  of  average 
discernment.  Hence,  there  will  be  no  dissent  from  the  proposition  that 
while  the  register  of  Time  has  recorded  the  rise  and  progress  of  great- 
er men,  it  was  not  given  to  North  Carolina  to  produce  them.  Among 
the  sons  of  our  State  he  was  easily  first.  There  have  been  those  who 
mastered  him  in  learning  in  the  law  ;  who  surpassed  him  in  letters  ; 
who  in  special  lines  of  intellectual  strength  equaled  and  went  beyond 
him,  but  none  has  been  so  many-sided.  Comparing  him  with  other 
great  North  Carolinians,  it  might  be  said  that  he  possessed  in  gener- 
ous measure  their  highest  attributes  and  conspicuously  others  which 
none  of  them  enjoyed.  As  a  mountain  youth  he  gave  promise  of 
what  he  was  to  be,  and  the  promise  was  fulfilled.  He  had  only  tried 
his  wings  when  the  discerning  saw  that  he  was  destined  to  soar  high. 
It  was  recognized  that  a  new  genius  had  arisen  in  the  West.  But  with 
the  idea  of  genius  is  associated  always  the  thought  of  something 
irregular — meteoric  ;  something  to  be  admired  but  something  not  quite 
certain.  There  is  infinite  interest  and  profit  in  the  study  of  the  career 
of  this  man  as  he  advanced,  step  by  step,  in  his  upward  progress.  He 
grew  to  the  height  of  every  occasion  which  confronted  him,  however 
new  or  unstudied.  He  was  equal  to  every  obstacle  that  arose  in  his 
pathway,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  of  him,  as  Dick  Taylor  said  of 
Stonewall   Jackson,   that  he    was  "superior    to    circumstance."     The 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  171 

flame  which  might  have  been  a  meteor,  came,  as  the  years  advanced 
and  new  opportunities  arose,  to  shine  with  a  steady  light,  and  the 
genius  which  was  awhile  ago  admired  and  applauded,  3'et  looked  at 
askance,  developed,  with  the  progress  of  years,  into  a  ripened  wis- 
dom, which  was  so  often  and  so  triumphantly  vindicated,  that  men 
long  ago  came  to  appreciate  that  it  could  be  trusted. 

As  a  popular  orator  and  debater  there  has  been  in  North  Carolina 
no  man  who  approached  him.  Never  has  the  State  had  a  son  who 
could  so  sway  the  multitude.  His  style  of  address  was  unique  and 
never  to  be  forgotten.  I  pass  by  the  inimitable  humor  which  lighten- 
ed op  his  speeches.  While  to  the  heedless  this  was  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  Vance's  oratory,  it  was  indeed  the  merest  incident  of  his 
public  addresses.  His  arguments  were  ponderous,  distinguished  for 
originality  of  proposition  and  power  of  statement.  He  was  a  thinker,  a 
logician,  and  while  no  thought  escaped  his  tongue  that  had  not  already 
been  subjected  to  the  crucible  of  reason,  no  faulty  argument  could  be 
■advanced  by  an  opponent  and  its  weakness  escape  detection  by  him.  His 
alertness  was  amazing  ;  his  readiness  will  ever  remain  a  proverb  in  the 
State.  He  was  never  taken  unawares  ;  never  found  without  an  answer, 
and  it  a  sufficient  one.  He  was  capable  of  the  loftiest  eloquence,  and 
adorned  with  handsomest  decorations  whatever  subject  he  chose  to. 
But  amidst  references  to  his  humor,  his  quickness,  his  aptness  and  elo- 
quence, the  fact  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  these  were  but 
adornments  of  what  were  masterful  intellectual  performances  ;  for  he 
was  a  great  intellect  who  himself  set  no  store  by  the  arts  of  speech, 
except  in  so  far  as  they  might  serve  to  give  emphasis  to  the  grave 
argument  he  would  enforce. 

As  an  executive  officer,  in  the  most  trying  period  in  the  history  of 
the  State,  he  evidenced  superb  practical  ability,  and,  transferred  to 
the  wider  domain  of  national  politics,  he  stood  for  fifteen  years  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  a  peer — a  statesman,  a  master  of  statecraft. 
That  he  succeeded  Mr.  Beck,  of  Kentucky,  upon  the  death  of  the  latter, 
as  the  Democratic  leader  in  the  Senate  upon  the  tariff  issiie,  that  he 
made  himself,  by  study  and  work,  an  authority  upon  this  subject,  and 
that  he  maintained  this  leadership  until  physical  disability  overtook 
him,  and  was  able  at  all  times  to  meet  all  comers,  is  familiar  history. 
And  so  he  came  to  be  a  national  figure,  and  when  he  died  there  were 
not  half  a  dozen  Senators  whose  names  werebetter  known  to  the  coun- 
try than  his.  Thus  had  he  come,  more  largely  than  ever  before,  to  be 
an  object  of  State  pride,  for  in  winning  fame  for  himself  he  shed  lustre 
upon  North  Carolina. 

Senator  Vance  was  by  Nature  richly  endowed,  and  what  Nature 
did  not  give  him  he  fought  for  and  won.  He  was  a  student  and  a 
thinker,  and  he  originated  ideas.  But  above  all,  he  had  what  has  been 
aptly  described  as  "  the  genius  of  popularity."  He  believed  in  the 
people,  and  they  believed  in  him  as  they  never  have  in  an}-  other  man. 


172  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

No  other  citizen  has  had  such  influence  over  them,  and  it  is  not  pro- 
bable that  in  this  generation  any  other  will.  His  personality  was 
better  known  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina  than  that  of  any  man. 
His  appearance  commanded  attention — his  fine,  strong  face  ;  his  lion- 
like head,  with  its  great  shock  of  hair,  and  his  steel-grey  eye  which, 
as  he  chose,  burned  surrounding  objects  with  its  indignant  flash  or 
twinkled  with  the  kindliest  humor.  His  presence  was  so  genial  that 
men,  women  and  children  were  attracted  to  him.  He  was  full  of  the 
milk  of  human  kindness — he  loved  his  fellowmen  and,  a  happy  spirit 
himself,  he  loved  to  lighten  the  cares  which  weighed  upon  others. 
He  was  essentially  a  man  of  the  people  ;  he  liked  their  plain  ways  and 
they  rewarded  him  for  this  and  for  his  fidelity  to  them  by  showering 
upon  him  such  a  wealth  of  affection  as  no  other  North  Carolinian  has 
ever  enjoyed. 

As  an  inevitable  consequence  of  the  life  he  had  adopted,  striving 
ever  to  deserve  the  approbation  of  the  people,  and  contending  ever 
with  wily  swordsmen,  with  keen  blades,  for  the  mastery,  his  career 
was  a  tempestuous  one,  but  it  was  not  barren  ;  and,  laying  aside  his 
armor,  he  could  have  truly  said,  "  I  have  done  the  State  some  service." 
Yea,  verily — more  than  any  man  who  lives  or  has  lived. 

[From  Walter  Clark.] 

As  the  generation  which  passed  through  the  fiery  ordeal  of  1861-5 
is  receding  into  the  past  it  stands  out  in  all  its  heroic  proportions  like 
a  mirage  above  the  desert  of  cotemporaneous  history.  The  great  part 
North  Carolina  played  in  that  historic  scene  is  beginning  to  be  dis- 
cerned in  all  the  grandeur  of  her  self-sacrifice.  Among  the  men  of 
that  day,  the  massive  form  and  lion  port  of  Zebulon  B.  Vance,  the 
great  war  Governor,  not  of  North  Carolina  alone,  but  of  the  South, 
"in  gesture  and  bearing,  stands  proudly  pre-eminent"  as  its  outlines 
are  cast  upon  the  canvass  of  history. 

Early  in  the  struggle,  North  Carolina  called  him  home  from  the 
head  of  his  regiment  to  take  her  helm  of  State.  From  that  day  the 
welfare  of  her  people  and  her  soldiery  was  his  never  ceasing  care. 
Throughout  the  army,  no  other  troops  were  as  well  clothed,  as  well 
shod,  or  better  armed,  than  those  who  proudly  bore  on  their  bayonet 
points  the  honor  and  the  fame  of  North  Carolina. 

More  than  a  third  of  a  century  has  passed  since  we  called  him 
home  to  the  head  of  the  State,  but  from  that  hour  by  every  soldier's 
bivouac,  by  every  surviving  soldier's  hearthstone,  by  the  fireside  of 
every  soldier's  son  and  daughter,  if  there  is  one  name  more  than  an- 
other which  can  stir  the  heart  as  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  it  is, 
and  has  ever  been,  that  of  the  great  war  Governor,  Zebulon  B.  Vance. 

During  those  eventful  years,  the  memory  of  which  can  never  be 
forgotten,  he  organized  a  basis  of  supplies  beyond  the  ocean  and  sent 
the    steamer    "Advance"    back   and   forth  like  a   weaver's   shuttle. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  173 

through  beleaguering  and  hostile  fleets,  bringing  needed  supplies  alike 
for  army  and  people.  Had  the  Tresident  of  the  Confederacy  pos- 
sessed equal  foresight  and  enterprise  the  catastrophe  might  possibly 
have  been  avoided.  The  ability  and  patriotism  then  displayed  by  their 
chosen  chief  impressed  his  memory  indelibly  upon  the  affections  of 
the  people  of  North  Carolina.  To  his  latest  hour  they  never  forgot 
him  or  took  away  his  lineaments  from  their  heart  of  hearts. 

After  the  war,  for  our  sins,  imprisonment  and  disfranchisement 
were  visited  upon  him.  In  the  dark  days  of  1868  no  temptations  and 
no  terrors  could  shake  him.  When  other  leaders,  since  highly  honored 
were  waiting,  like  Lord  Stanly  at  Atherstone,  to  discern  the  winning 
side  that  they  might  hasten  to  join  it,  none  ever  doubted  for  which 
side  he  held.  Victor  or  not,  as  it  might  be,  his  side  was  with  his 
people. 

In  all  the  trials  through  which  we  passed  for  thirty  years  succeed- 
ing the  war  there  was  never  a  contest  nor  a  struggle  in  which  we  did 
not  feel  stronger  and  braver  because  we  knew  that  he  was  with  us. 

Among  all  our  illustrious  dead,  there  has  not  been  one  who  has 
more  completely  commanded  the  confidence  and  the  affections  of  the 
people  than  Governor  Vance.  It  was  because  they  instinctively  under- 
stood him.  It  was  because  of  the  people,  the  great  plain  common  people 
(as  Lincoln  loved  to  call  them)  knew  that  he  was  of  them  and  for 
them.  They  knew,  and  they  felt,  that  whatever  blandishments  and 
and  whatever  seductions  power  and  wealth  might  offer,  Vance  would 
not  desert  them. 

He  had  his  faults,  for  he  was  mortal  ;  he  made  mistakes  for  he  was 
only  a  man.  But  one  mistake  he  never  made,  one  fault  he  was  never 
charged  with:  Not  once  in  his  long  and  splendid  public  career  was  it 
ever  whispered  that  Governor  Vance,  or  Senator  Vance,  had  paltered 
with  his  duty  for  place  or  power.  As  for  money,  there  was  not  enough 
to  buy  him.  To  his  latest  breath,  as  from  his  earliest  entrance  into 
public  life,  he  was  true  to  his  trust.  Twice  a  member  of  Congress, 
thrice  chosen  Governor,  and  four  times  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  ;  upon  no  other  son  has  North  Carolina  lavished  so  many  honors. 
The  pride  and  affection  of  the  people  for  him  were  only  equalled  by 
his  fidelity  to  their  cause. 

As  a  brave  soldier,  the  people  honored  him  ;  as  an  incorruptable 
public  servant,  they  admired  and  esteemed  him  ;  as  the  tireless,  fearless 
champion  of  the  people's  rights  they  loved  him. 

The  last  great  tribune  of  the  people  is  dead.  A  century  may  well 
keep  watch  and  ward  till  we  see  his  like  again. 

[From  William  R.  Cox.] 
It  is  no  disparagement  to  others  to  assert  that  Governor  Vance 
was  foremost   in  the  affections  and  confidence  of  the   people  of  our 
State.     He  had  rare  opportunities  to  serve  them  and  nobly  improved 


174  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

them.  Warmly  attached  to  the  union  of  the  States,  he  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  rocking  of  the  waves  that  presaged  the  storm  soon  to 
ensue.  It  is  said,  with  uplifted  hands,  he  was  advocating  the  cause  of 
the  Union  when  the  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  received  calling 
for  troops  to  coerce  the  States.  Immediately  his  hands  fell,  his  head 
bowed,  he  descended  from  the  rostrum,  and  called  for  volunteers  to 
defend  the  State  from  an  outrage  upon  her  constitutional  rights.  At 
the  head  of  a  company,  raised,  he  promptly  tendered  his  services  to 
the  Governor,  and  from  thence  forward  was  a  soldier,  until  the  voice  of 
the  people  called  him  to  the  executive  chair.  I  will  not  dwell  upon 
his  business  methods,  which  equipped  our  soldiers  better  than  those 
of  auy  of  her  sister  States,  and  provided  a  livehood  for  many  house- 
holds throughout  our  borders.  Sufl&ce  it  his  wisdom,  his  foresight, 
and  zeal  distinguished  him  as  the  war  Governor  of  the  South.  So 
much  so  that  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the  sectional  party  then  in  con- 
trol of  the  national  government,  resolved  that  he  should  vicariously 
suffer  for  the  trangressions  of  his  people.  I  called  on  him  when  on 
his  way  to  the  old  capitol  prison.  Notwithstanding  the  opportunities  to 
enrich  himself,  which  one  less  scrupulous  would  have  availed  himself 
of,  he  was  without  a  dollar,  save  amounts  contributed  b)'  a  few  friends 
from  their  scanty  stores. 

While  in  prison  he  was  visited  by  friends  in  the  North  who  knew 
him  when  a  member  of  Congress  ;  by  his  good  humor,  his  apt  way  of 
presenting,  in  a  ludicrous  way,  the  mistakes  of  others,  he  brought 
his  imprisonment  into  riducule  and  was  early  set  at  liberty. 

Though  prevented  from  holding  office,  during  the  dark  days  of 
reconstruction,  his  voice  and  pen  were  employed  for  the  welfare  of 
the  State.  In  1875  a  constitutional  convention  was  called  to  supercede 
the  odious  carpet-bag  government.  Many  of  our  prominent  men 
regarded  the  movenlent  as  premature,  and  in  writing  committed 
themselves  against  the  policy.  Therefore,  when  I,  as  chairman  of 
the  Democratic  executive  committee,  urged  them  to  take  the  stump 
and  aid  in  our  efforts,  their  responses  were  apologies.  Not  so  with 
Governor  Vance,  who  replied  I  might  rely  on  him  to  do  what  he 
could,  and  made  an  appointment  for  us  to  meet  at  Morganton  to  inau- 
gurate a  canvass  of  the  western  part  of  the  State,  for  here  there  was 
much  division  among  our  friends,  and  independent  candidates  were  in 
nearly  every  county.  When  in  Morganton,  I  received  a  dispatch  re- 
questing me  to  join  him  at  his  home  in  Charlotte.  He  then  informed 
me  that  he  had  sent  his  family  off  that  morning.  His  friends  had 
promised  to  raise  money  to  enable  him  to  make  the  canvass.  They 
had  failed  to  do  so,  until  he  declared'  he  would  put  his  individual 
note  in  bank,  to  raise  the  money  to  fill  our  appointments.  So  that 
evening  we  took  the  cars  for  Georgia  to  reach  western  North  Carolina, 
for,  notwithstanding  our  carpet-bag  legislators  had  appropriated 
twenty  millions  of  bonds  to  build  railroads,  not  one  mile  was  under 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  175 

construction.  The  result  of  that  canvass  is  still  remembered  by  many 
but  it  is  not  known  that  at  the  close  of  our  canvass  Vance  did  not  have 
five  dollars  to  reach  his  home.  Result:  A  brilliant  canvass,  Robeson 
held,  the  State  redeemed,  and  our  people  again  allowed  to  elect  honest 
men  for  public  office,  and  our  credit,  which  was  destroyed,  soon  restored 
to  normal  standard.  For  many  of  the  blessings  now  enjoyed  are  we 
indebted  to  this  great  man. 

In  1876  he  was  nominated  for  Governor.  His  opponent  was  a  man 
of  splendid  address,  great  ability,  and  had  the  general  government  at 
his  back.  The  campaign  was  the  most  memorable  ever  made  in  our 
State.  The  labors  of  Governor  Vance  during  that  canvass  are  to  this 
day  imperfectly  appreciated.  At  this  time  it  became  my  duty  to 
meet  him  on  several  occasions,  and  to  my  inquiries  as  to  whether  he 
needed  money  his  uniform  reply  was,  "my  campaign  is  costing  me 
nothing,  but  when  I  meet  a  boy  named  Zeb  I  like  to  give  him  five  dol- 
lars." In  many  a  hamlet  young  Zebs  were  found,  and  no  less  than 
five  were  once  presented  on  one  occasion.  So  general  a  favorite  was 
he  that  even  horses,  dogs,  etc.,  were  named  for  him.  His  labors  were 
literally  overwhelming.  From  the  time  he  reached  the  places  ap- 
pointed for  speaking  there  was  a  continual  stream  of  men,  women 
and  children  seeking  to  approach  and  shake  him  by  the  hand.  His 
body  was  sacrificed  with  heat,  but  never  for  a  moment  did  he  shirk 
his  duty.  The  third  time  he  was  chosen  Governor,  an  honor  never  con- 
ferred upon  any  other  citizen  of  the  State. 

Not  to  dwell  upon  facts  familiar  to  all,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
before  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  promptly  came  forward  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  that  dis- 
tinguished body.  Though  serving  in  the  lower  House  for  six  years, 
while  Vance  was  Senator,  I  never  fully  realized  in  what  esteem  he  was 
held  by  his  colleagues  on  both  sides  of  the  Senate  chamber,  until  called 
to  fill  my  present  position.  One  of  the  most  distinguished  members 
of  this  body  informed  me  that  entering  the  Senate  a  new  member 
while  the  McKinley  tariff  bill  was  under  discussion,  he  witnessed  the 
ease  and  ability  with  which  Senator  Vance  met  every  attack  on  his 
positions  and  with  solid  facts  and  ridicule  discomfitted  his  adversaries. 
He  conceived  the  highest  admiration  for  the  man  and  became  warmly 
attached  to  him.     This  instance  is  not  singular. 

During  his  long  and  protracted  illness  the  liveliest  interest  for  his 
recovery  was  manifested  on  both  sides  of  the  chamber  and  when  the 
Wilson  bill  came  up  for  consideration  the  senior  Senator  from  Indiana 
gave  expression  to  the  general  feeling  of  its  friends  when  he,  in  the 
Senate,  regretted  the  absence  of  the  junior  Senator  from  North 
Carolina. 

Contrary  to  the  general  opinion.  Senator  Vance  was  a  close  stu- 
dent, a  fine  belles  lettres  scholar,  and  possessed  elements  of  the 
highest  oratory.     During  the  debate  on  the  McKinley  bill  he  sacrificed 


176  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

his  health  and  his  eye  in  nightly  labor  over  its  complicated  tariff 
schedule.  And  during  the  special  session  of  1893,  though  his  health 
was  very  feeble,  he  lost  no  interest  in  his  public  duties  nor  spared 
himself  in  preparation  for  them,  and  while  partially  paralj'zed  deliy- 
ered  a  well-prepared  and  able  speech  on  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  act. 
Having  occasion  to  go  into  the  cloak-room  soon  after  its  delivery,  I 
found  him  lying  down  surrounded  by  friends,  wet  with  perspiration 
and  nearly  exhausted.  I  then  feared  for  him  what  ultimately  proved 
too  true,  that  it  would  be  his  last  active  appearance  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate. 

After  the  death  of  that  able  and  learned  lawyer  and  fearless  Dem- 
ocrat, ex-Attorney  General  Black,  there  was  a  meetingin  the  Supreme 
Court  room,  attended  by  many  distinguished  publicists,  to  pay  honor 
to  his  memory.  It  was  generally  conceded  that  among  the  able  ad- 
dresses then  delivered,  there  was  not  one  equal  to  that  of  Senator 
Vance.  I  had  occasion  to  know  the  labor  he  bestowed  on  its  prepara- 
tion. 

Not  to  extend  this  letter  to  a  wearying  length,  I  wish  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  when  Vance  was  nominated  the  third  time 
for  Governor,  in  addressing  the  vast  concourse  then  in  Raleigh,  he, 
in  calling  attention  to  the  manner  in  which  our  State  and  the  country 
had  been  robbed  and  plundered  by  carpet-baggers  and  their  confeder- 
ates, dramatically  threw  up  his  hands  and  truthfully  exclaimed, 
"  Fellow  citizens,  my  hands  are  clean  !"  After  accomplishing  so  much 
for  us  he  died  as  he  lived — poor  and  with  clean  hands,  with  a  con- 
science clear,  manhood  untarnished,  and  a  fame  and  a  name  dear  to 
every  household  from  his  home  amidst  the  Black  mountains  to  the 
low  lands  of  the  East  washed  by  the  billowy  Atlantic. 

In  the  presence  of  this  illustrious  public  servant,  this  devoted 
North  Carolinian,  this  great  tribune  of  the  people,  who  consecrated 
his  manhood,  his  decrepitude,  and  perhaps  gave  his  life  for  his  State, 
and  who,  after  all  his  sacrifices,  died  poor  and  with  clean  hands,  let 
us  teach  our  children  to  revere  his  memory,  to  follow  his  example, 
and  whether  dealing  with  private  or  public  affairs,  to  keep  their  hands 
clean  always. 

And  the  wayward,  but  sincere,  seeker  after  political  truth  may 
safely  give  heed  to  his  dying  admonition,  that  "  the  word  Democrat 
stands  for  human  liberty  and  human  freedom,  and  cannot  die. 
Democracy  is  immortal." 

[From  Wharton  J.  Green.] 
If  competent  judges  were  called  upon  to  name  the  purest,  most 
lustrous,  grandest  character  in  the  "  Ilenriade  "  epoch  of  English  his- 
torj^  beginning  with  the  first  Henry  and  ending  with  the  last  of  the 
name,  we  much  opine  that  the  almost  xinanimous  vote  would  designate 
England's  great  if  not  greatest  Lord  Chancellor,  Sir  Thomas  More  as 
the  man. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  177 

rlain,  simple,  gentle,  genial,  with  a  heart  as  full  of  love  as  a  head 
of  erudition  and  transcendent  grasp,  whom  kingly  favor  could  not  turn 
or  terror  bend.  It  is  perhaps  not  extravagant  to  say  that  he  is  entitled 
to  rank  in  the  world's  choicest  score  of  "Superlatives,  "  and  to  justify 
the  estimate  of  Erasmus,  "  as  more  pure  and  white  than  the  whitest 
snow,  with  such  wit  as  England  never  had  before,  and  is  never  likely  to 
have  again.  "  In  extempore  speaking  he  stood  unequaled.  In  theo- 
logical disputation,  though  but  a  layman,  he  was  the  peer  or  more  of 
the  ablest  churchmen. 

This  superb  and  redundant  man  preferred  the  block  to  the  sur- 
render of  one  jot  or  tittle  of  his  convictions,  though  many  there  were 
and  more  there  be  who  deemed  and  deem  his  election  mere  pride  and 
punctilio.  Be  it  so  or  be  it  not,  Paul  was  his  prototype  and  he,  we 
hold,  was  the  grandest  man  who  has  "  ever  lived  in  the  tide  of  times.  " 
But  here  discrepancy  between  the  two  sets  in.  Paul  had  no  humorous 
side  to  his  character.  Sir  Thomas,  on  the  contrary,  was  brimful  of  his 
little  jests  and  pleasantries,  even  to  the  scaffold's  foot  and  falling  of 
the  axe.  This  was  due  in  main  to  his  sunshiny  nature,  kindliness  of 
heart  and  exuberance  of  fancy.  His  life  study  was  to  live  uprightly, 
to  do  his  duty  to  his  God,  his  King  and  his  country,  and  make  others 
happy  and  contented  with  their  lot.  Let  cavillers  say  that  his  outcrop 
of  innocent  humor  in  furtherance  of  the  last,  detracted  from  the  Mas- 
ter's service.  On  the  contrary  to  my  poor  ken,  coupled  with  his  more 
serious  traits,  it  only  added  to  his  Christian  life  and  hands  him  to  us  as 
perhaps  the  sweetest  and  most  lovable  character  of  such  prominence 
in  our  history.  Perhaps  it  is  not  extravagant  to  say  that  in  him,  Mar- 
cus Aurelius  and  Robert  E.  Lee,  the  world  has  the  grandest  and  most 
perfect  all  around  triumvirate  of  the  Christian  era,  leaving  out  him  of 
Tarsus. 

I  am  thus  diffuse  in  delineation  and  praise  of  this  almost  match- 
less man,  owing  to  the  many  striking  points  of  similitude  between  him 
and  Zebulon  B.  Vance,  with  whom  it  is  proposed  to  run  a  cursory 
parallel.  The  question  of  comparative  mental  calibre  of  the  two  will 
be  left  in  abeyance  as  one  too  subtle  to  sift.  Suffice  it  that  one  might 
fall  far  short  of  the  intellectual  altitude  of  Sir  Thomas  More  and  yet 
be  amply  competent  to  sway  Senates  or  wield  the  helm  of  State.  In 
amiable  attractive  attributes,  few  men  have  ever  borne  closer  re- 
semblance. Seriosity  and  humor  most  admirably  blended  ;  wit  as  keen 
as  a  Damascus  blade,  but  which  never  gave  offence  except  when  the 
occasion  and  the  subject  most  urgently  demanded.  The  fundamental 
article  of  creed  of  each  was  obedience  to  the  Master  and  love  of  fellow- 
man.  Politicians  and  movers  of  the  popular  heart  they  were  by  nature 
and  statesmen  by  culture.  Innate  and  irrepressible  politeness  and  gift  of 
speech  and  sweet  disposition  forced  them  into  popular  idols  and  lead- 
ers of  men,  yclept  the  politician,  not  vice  versa.  Insatiate  love  of 
study  and  of  statecraft  with  love  of   mankind  underlying  necessitated 

13 


178  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  outcome  of  the  last.  These  men  were  of  the  "  nascitur  "  sort  un- 
doubtedly, but  only  unremitting  thought  and  application  could  have 
prepared  them  for  the  high  employments  they  were  called  upon  to 
discharge.  In  equipoise  and  equable  temperament  they  were  essen- 
tially of  the  same  mould.  Neither  was  ever  unduly  elated  by  the 
honors  of  oflSce  or  depressed  by  the  cares  of  State.  Of  the  more  re- 
cent, it  is  mine  to  say  that  during  a  long  and  friendly  intercourse  with 
him,  extending  through  a  generation,  I  never  saw  him  cast  down,  or 
"  down  in  the  mouth,  "  but  on  one  occasion,  and  then  only  for  a  few 
brief  minutes.  Wiping  away  the  unbidden  tear  from  his  manl}'  cheek, 
he  remarked  with  a  placid  smile,  "  Come,  old  fellow,  let's  have  a  quiet 
Sunday  morning's  talk.  How  do  you  like  this  thing?  "  refering  to 
congressional  life.  "But  little."  "  As  little  do  I,  "  was  his  reply. 
"  And  yet  our  little  places  will  never  go  a-begging.  "  Such  methinks 
might  have  been  the  latent  thought  of  his  illustrious  prototype  as 
here  outlined  before  he  laid  aside  "  the  great  seal  "  to  lay  his  great 
head  upon  the  block.  "  Vauitas  vanitatum  !  "  Be  that  as  it  may,  the 
two  fulfilled  the  high  posts  of  duty  to  which  they  were  called  to  the 
uttermost  of  superlative  capacity,  and  went  to  rest  with  that  proud 
consciousness.  To  continue  the  analogy,  they  lived  poor  and  died 
poor  in  this  world's  gear,  but  millionaires  in  the  affections  of  their 
countrymen,  of  unsmirched  and  unsullied  name.  Ma}-  God  in  His  in- 
finite mercy  grant  us  more  of  that  sort  and  fewer  of  the  other.  In 
home  life,  likewise  they  were  twin  brothers.  Home  to  each  was  the 
most  loved  spot  on  earth,  and  they  strove  to  make  it  so  to  all  who  had 
ingress  into  its  sacred  portals.  They  died  near  the  same  ages — for  great 
work  done  comparatively  young. 

Congeniality  in  wit  and  innocent  mirth  was,  perhaps,  however, 
the  most  striking  trait  in  common  to  these  remarkable  men.  One  has, 
as  already  said,  his  little  quips  and  quirks  almost  to  the  moment  of 
decapitation.  The  other  indulges  in  the  same  as  the  bolts  of  the  old 
Capitol  prison  close  behind  him,  to  be  opened  again — when  no  man 
could  tell. 

Each  hated  tyranny  with  a  holy  hate,  that  is,  as  thc}^  did  the 
place  in  which  it  emanates,  and  to  which,  in  the  end,  all  tyrants  pre- 
sumptively go,  be  they  crown  wearers  or  for  the  want  of  such  head- 
gear only  vulgar,  domestic  brutes. 

Bold  assertion  against  unwarranted  assumptions  of  executive 
heads  was  the  most  heroic  bond  of  sympathy  between  them,  or  would 
have  been  had  they  lived  in  the  same  age. 

The  first  dared  to  beard  two  kings  on  the  threshold  of  kingly  en- 
croachment as  he  believed,  gaining  admission  thereby  on  each 
occasion  into  Tyranny's  "  Tower."  The  other  to  lock  horns  with  his 
party  chief  in  executive  robe,  as  inflated  a  specimen  of  uncrowned 
regality  .as  ever  strutted  this  mundane  stage, ^and  whose  chiefest 
regret  might  seem  to  have  been   that  he,  like  those   and  other  titular 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  1 79 

spirits  of  kindred  sort,  had  not  a  little  "  Tower  "  of  his  own  in  which 
to  cage  such  truculent  birds. 

But  dropping  comparison,  his  proud  title  of  "  the  war  Governor  " 
of  the  Confederacy,  gave  our  immediate  man  his  most  resplendent 
sheen.  Although  but  still  a  boy,  as  it  were,  when  called  from  the 
head  of  his  regiment  to  take  the  head  of  his  State,  he  quickly  proved 
himself  amply  competent  to  the  transition  and  the  high  promotion 
accorded.  Bj'  his  brief  experience  in  camp  and  field,  he  had  learned 
the  needs  of  troops,  pressing  even  then,  but  more  pressing  soon  to 
follow.  His  ambition  seemed  to  be  from  the  start  that  North  Carolina 
should  not  only  have  the  fullest  rosters  at  "  roll  call,"  but  the  fattest 
graveyards  on  hard  fought  fields  if  needs  be,  of  any  of  her  sister  States. 
With  liberal  allowance  to  each  and  all  of  the  others,  numerically  con- 
sidered, let  the  official  war  records  answer. 

But  more  than  that,  it  was  his  fixed  purpose  and  resolve  that  they 
should  be  the  best  clad,  the  best  shod,  the  best  blanketed  troops  of 
any  other.  It  was  a  jest  in  camp  that  when  a  regiment  of  another 
State  had  given  way  under  dread  ordeal  and  was  replaced  by  one  of 
oiirs,  in  reply  to  taunt  of  the  Colonel  of  the  First,  a  w^eather  beaten 
and  bare-footed  old  veteran  blurted  out  between  his  sobs  :  "If  we 
were  only  as  well  shoed  and  as  well  cared  for  as  them  d — d  Tar  Heels, 
we'd  know  how  to  stick  and  die  as  well  as  they  do." 

The  swdft  little  steamer  "Advance"  was  placed  in  commission 
with  glorious  Tom  Crosson  in  command,  and  made  her  outgoings  and 
incomings  through  the  blockading  squadrons  almost  with  the  regular- 
ity of  a  Cunarderinandoutof  New  York.  Cotton,  tobacco,  naval  stores, 
etc.,  which  commanded  almost  fabulous  prices  on  the  other  side  con- 
stituted her  outgoing  cargo.  The  articles  named,  and  medical  stores 
and  appliances,  and  improved  arms  and  outfit,  her  incoming  for  the 
soldiers,  not  omitting  needles  and  buttons  and  thread  and  knitting 
needles,  and  cotton  cards  and  old-fashioned  spinning  wheels  and  cot- 
ton and  wodlen  cloths  and  such  like,  her  incoming.  Rather  a  primi- 
tive selection  and  assortment,  the  so-called  "400"  upstarts  and  their 
congerers  might  say  ;  but  let  them  rememberthat  these  homely  articles 
were  designed  for  men  and  women  contending  for  a  soul  ingrained 
principle,  which  they  would  not  have  parted  with  for  all  the  paltry 
dross  of  their  paltry  herd,  including  gold  ;  yea,  much  fine  gold,  and 
purples  and  broad  cloths,  and  precious  stones,  and  knee  breeches,  and 
buckles,  and  farthingales  and  furbelows,  and  manikins  and  their  sort 
thrown  in  for  full  complement. 

vSome  there  were  who  claimed  that  he  was  stretching  constitutional 
prerogative  a  little  too  far,  in  reply  to  whom  we  can  almost  fancy  we 
hear  the  stereotyped  big  oath  of  North  Carolina's  biggest  son  :  '  By 
the  Eternal  !  these  glorious  fellows  shall  not  come  to  want  through 
any  neglect  or  omission  of  mine." 

Of  course  our  juvenile  Governor  had  the  general  outline  of  freight- 


l8o  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

age  on  these  momentous  trips  of  the  little  craft,  but  this  was  elaborated 
by  his  well  selected  and  efficient  coadjutor  and  agent  on  the  other 
side,  Honest  John  Scotch  White,  of  AVarrenton. 

What  a  splendid  opportunity  for  nest-feathering  was  lost  by  these 
three  thoughtless  men,  Vance,  Crosson  and  White,  when  almost  every 
pound  of  cargo  was  worth  its  equivalent  in  silver,  and  sometimes  even 
in  gold,  and  yet  fools  there  be  who  would  rather  be  of  that  sort  than 
of  the  maccaroon  or  millionairic  class. 

The  wonderful  versatility  of  this  wonderful  man  is  best  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  notwithstanding  his  undivided  adhesion  to  the  cause 
of  Southern  Independence  after  the  struggle  was  once  begun,  he  was 
not  an  original  secessionist  or  one  per  se  at  the  start.  Again,  his 
reputation  as  the  prince  of  story  tellers  had  preceded  him  to  the 
Senate,  and  his  colleagues  were  prepared  to  see  a  country  clown  or 
"Merry  Andrew."  His  first  utterance  undeceived  them.  He  had 
left  the  stump,  the  petty  politician,  and  the  cross  roads  behind  him, 
and  was  at  a  single  bound  a  full  fledged  United  States  Senator. 

[From  Edward  J.  Hale.] 

The  first  time  I  remember  to  have  been  impressed  with  the  magni- 
tude of  the  place  Vance  was  destined  to  occupy  in  our  history  was  in 
October,  i860,  when  almost  the  earliest  duty  assigned  to  me,  as  a 
newly-fledged  editor  and  member  of  the  firm  of  E.J.  Hale  &  Sons, 
was  the  "editing"  of  the  report  sent  to  the  Observer  from  Salisbury 
of  the  great  Whig  mass-meeting  there  on  the  nth  and  12th  of  that 
month.  There  were  traditions  in  abundance  at  the  University,  when  I 
was  there,  of  Vance's  witty  sayings,  bi:t  these  had  not  impressed  me 
with  the  idea  that  the  author  of  the  latter  was  fashioned  to  excel  in 
other  respects.  What  impressed  me  in  the  Salisbury  report  was  the 
fact  that  the  young  Congressman  should  be  represented  as  shining 
among  the  stars  that  were  there  of  such  magnitude  as  Badger,  Graham, 
Morehead,  W.  N.  H.  Smith  and  Alfred  Dockery.  Of  the  first  day's 
(Thursday's)  meeting  the  report  said  : 

"General  Dockery  made  a  short  exhortatory  oration  and  intro- 
duced Hon.  Z.  B.  Vance.  This  gentleman  rose  amid  shouts  of  applause 
and  for  over  two  hours  held  his  large  audience  perfectly,  and  that  too, 
most  of  the  time,  amid  the  rain.  At  every  attempt  to  stop  he  would  be 
greeted  with  shouts  of  "  go  on,  "  "  go  on.  "  His  speech  partook  of  the 
argumentative  and  the  witty  in  elegant  proportions.  Your  corres- 
pondent thinks  he  is  the  best  stump  orator  in  North  Carolina,  and  may 
venture  to  say  that  at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  thousands  at  Salisburj' 
think  so,  too." 

On  Friday  night  the  3-oung  orator  was  again  pressed  into  service, 
and  the  report  went  on  to  say  : 

"  At  night  those  who  remained  in  town  assembled  in  the  public 
square  to  see  the  fireworks.     From  the  commencement  of  the  display 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  l8l 

cries  were  continuall}'  made  for  "  Vance,  "  and  "Let's  hear  the  Moun- 
tain Boy.  "  After  considerable  exhibition  of  the  fireworks  and  an 
hour's  calling  for  him,  Mr.  Vance  came  forward  and  was  mounted  on  a 
pile  of  boxes.  After  a  number  of  witticisms,  Mr.  Vance  got  the  crowd  a 
little  silent  and  held  them  steadily  around  him  for  over  an  hour.  You 
can  form  some  idea  of  the  crowd  when  I  tell  you  that  one  of  those  wide 
streets  of  Salisbury  was  packed  for  three  hundred  feet  of  length — side- 
walks and  all — almost  as  close  as  it  is  possible  for  human  beings  to 
stand.  In  the  midst  of  this  vast  assembly  was  Mr.  Vance.  Cheer  after 
cheer  followed  nearly  every  sentence  he  uttered.  And  as  he  left  his 
platform  the  enthusiastic  crowd  threw  wreaths  over  his  head  and  re- 
ceiving him  on  their  shoulders,  bore  him  around  the  vast  assembly 
amid  deafening  shouts.  " 

I  was  present  when  Mr.  Badger  said  to  the  late  Mr.  E.  J.  Hale,  in 
reply  to  the  latter's  congratulations  upon  the  accounts  he  had  heard  of 
Mr.  Badger's  own  great  speech  at  the  Salisbury  meeting:  "But,  Mr.  Hale, 
you  should  have  heard  Vance,  the  young  Congressman  from  the  moun- 
tain district.  There  never  lived  such  a  stump  speaker  as  he.  "  At 
that  time  Mr.  Badger  was  recognized  as  our  ablest  Carolinian  states- 
man, and  probabl}^  our  most  accomplished  orator.  Measured  by  the 
modern  English  standard  of  oratory,  he  was  certainly  entitled  to  that 
rating  in  North  Carolina,  and  probably,  at  that  time,  in  the  Union. 

In  its  issue  of  October  17th,  1861,  the  Fayetteville  Observer  pub- 
lished a  letter  from  Col.  Z.  B.  Vance,  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Regiment, 
addressed  to  his  friend,  Mr.  N.  G.  Allman,  of  Franklin,  Macon  county, 
declining  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used  as  that  of  a  candidate  for  Con- 
gress.    (This  letter  is  given  in  full  elsewhere  in  this  volume.) 

In  this  letter  was  revealed  the  predominant  traits  of  the  man,  as 
they  became  afterwards  known  to  the  people  of  all  the  State.  Though 
a  Union  man  up  to  Lincoln's  proclamation,  he  had  cast  his  lot  with  his 
own  people;  though  a  Congressman  and  entitled  to  some  preference,  he 
entered  the  war  oh  an  equality  with  his  neighbors,  as  a  private  soldier; 
though  tempted  by  urgent  solicitations  to  return  to  the  pursuit  of  poli- 
tics, for  which  his  genius  fitted  him,  he  obeyed  what  then  seemed  to  be 
the  call  of  duty  ;  above  all,  he  was  of  a  modest  disposition  and  filled  his 
letter  which  discloses  so  beautifully,  with  the  spirit  of  gratitude — 
"gratitude,"  which  was,  as  one  who  loved  him  said,  his  "favorite  virtue; 
gratitude  to  God  and  man  for  the  blessings  of  affection." 

But  as  the  time  approached  in  the  next  year  (1862)  for  the  election 
of  a  Governor,  it  was  felt  that  North  Carolina's  position  in  the  Con- 
federacy would  be  best  sustained  by  the  recognition  of  that  majority 
element  in  the  State  whose  ante-bellum  Union  sentiments  had  pre- 
vailed in  the  choice  of  delegates  to  the  convention  of  1861.  In  its 
announcement  of  the  death  of  Senator  Vance,  the  Raleigh  News  and 
Observer  of  April  17th,  1894,  said  : 

"  The  time  was  now  approaching  for  the   election   of  a   Governor 


1 82  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

of  the  State.  Governor  Ellis  had  died  in  office  and  Hon.  Henry  T. 
Clark,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  was  acting  as  Governor.  Hon.  A.  S. 
Merrimon,  of  Buncombe,  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  ;  and  at  a 
conference  of  a  few  friends,  it  was  determined  to  bring  out  Vance  for 
Governor.  Merrimon  rode  to  Faj-etteville  and  obtained  a  promise  of 
cordial  support  from  Mr.  Edward  Jones  Hale,  the  leading  Whig  editor 
of  the  State,  and  Vance  was  brought  out.  Many  Democrats  did  not 
wish  to  antagonize  him." 

I  happened  to  be  at  home  on  furlough  at  the  time,  and  was 
assigned  the  pleasant  duty  of  taking  Mr.  Merrimon  over  the  town, 
after  the  serious  business  was  concluded.  I  recalled  that  it  was 
agreed  that  if  Vance  would  accept  the  great  task  proposed  for  him, 
he  should  address  a  letter  to  the  editors  of  the  Observer,  which  should 
constitute  a  sort  of  platform  for  his  adherents,  as  well  as  indication  of 
his  own  attitude  toward  his  candidacy.  He  was  induced  to  abandon 
his  purpose,  so  rigidly  adhered  to  up  to  that  time,  of  remaining  in  the 
field,  and  wrote  a  letter  accepting  the  unique,  but  ver}-  Democratic, 
nomination.     (Published  elsewhere  in  this  volume.) 

The  traits  which  I  have  mentioned — a  sense  of  duty,  modesty  and 
a  grateful  disposition — are  such  as  commend  their  possessors  to  men 
everywhere.  But  while  those  virtues  were  Vance's  in  a  very  high 
degree,  they  would  not,  of  themselves,  be  sufficient  to  explain  his  lead- 
ing characteristic,  "  his  popularity  "  and  his  power  with  the  masses. 

A  noted  Georgia  writer  declared  that  Vance  was  not  only  the  most 
popular  man  in  North  Carolina,  but  the  most  pojaular  man  who  had 
ever  lived  in  any  State.  That  is  probably  literally  true.  Senator 
Chandler  said  the  same  thing  in  effect,  on  the  funeral  train  from  Ral- 
eigh to  Asheville,  as  he  watched  the  silent  people  who  lined  the  road- 
side, and  scanned  their  faces  and  noted  the  expression  of  individual 
sorrow  which  each  face  bore. 

The  late  Senator's  engaging  manners,  his  noble  face  and  figure,  so 
good  to  look  upon,  and  his  unrivalled  powers  upon  the  stump  would 
account  for  the  unusual  favor  with  which  those  who  saw  and  heard 
him  regarded  him  ;  but,  in  the  nature  of  things,  these  must  have  con- 
stituted but  a  small  portion  of  the  mass  of  his  countrymen.  Yet  his 
popularity  was  all-pervading.  An  authority  has  declared  that  the 
ablest  commissary  general  who  ever  lived  would  be  unequal  to  the 
task  of  feeding  London  for  a  day  ;  yet  the  forces  of  individual  self- 
interest,  directed  by  no  concert  of  action  but  concentrated  in  their 
final  effect,  deliver  to  the  great  city  each  day  just  what  it  needs  of 
meat  and  drink.  Such  concentration"  of  the  unconcerted  efforts  of  a 
multitude,  where  the  motive  of  the  individuals  is  the  same,  is  a  force 
well  known  to  students  of  those  matters.  So  it  was,  we  may  infer, 
with  our  hero  and  his  friends.  As  his  beneficent  rule  in  those  troublous 
days  of  the  great  war  was  felt  in  the  remotest  corners  of  the  State,  and 
his  vigilant  care  sought  out  the  humblest  private  in   the  ranks  at  the 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  ^83 

front,  his  beneficiaries  traced  each  his  bounty  back  to  its  source  with 
unerring  discernment.  So  they  came  to  know  each  other  in  a  way 
that  neither  forgot.  Or,  as  it  has  been  said,  the  people  loved  him  be- 
cause  he  first  loved  them.  . 

The  most  picturesque  episode  of  Vance's  life  was  his  series  of 
speeches  to  the  North  Carolina  troops  of  Lee's  army  in  March,  1864. 
There  were  during  the  winter  of  1863-4  thirteen   North  Carohna  brig- 
ades (sixty-five  regiments)  in  the  Army  of  Northern   Virginia      They 
were  stretched  at  intervals-and  not  very  great  intervals,  for  they 
composed  more  than  half  of  that  immortal  army-along  the  Southern 
bank  of  the  Rapidan,  east  and  west  from  Orange  Court  House^     My 
bric^ade   (Lane's)  held  the   extreme  left,   at   Liberty  Mills.     The  day 
before  the  Governor  was  to  speak  at  our  camp  (March  31st)  the  gen- 
eral and  I  rode  over  to  Scales'  (the  next  North  Carolina  brigade  to  us 
on  the  right)  to  bring  him  over  to  our  headquarters  in  readiness  for 
the  next  day.     We  arrived  in  time  to  hear  his  speech.     It  was  pitched 
inaloftvkey.     General   Lee,   General  Stuart  and  other  big  wigs  of 
the  arm;,  arrived  just  at  the  close,  owing  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the 
time  set  for  the  speech,  but  we  learned  from  them  that  they  had  been 
following  Vance  up  from  brigade  to  brigade.     His  tour  began  with  the 
North  Carolina  Brigade  furthermost  to  the  right  (Ramseur's    I  think) 
and  there  General  Lee  and  his  companions  had  gone  to  meet  him  and 
to  welcome  him  to  the  army.     But  they  had  run  the  gamut  of  the 
whole  eleven  up  to  Scales'  so  fascinating  had  they  found  his  eloquence. 
It  was  a  picturesque  and  inspiring  scene.     There   lay  the  uncon- 
nuered   army   of  Northern   Virginia,    like   a    lion   at  bay,    along  ^he 
foothills  of  the  Blue  Ridge.     Or,  we  might  say  that  the  Great  Com- 
mander was  holding  his  dogs  of  war  in  leash  for  what  -on  proved 
their  long  drawn  death  grapple,  when  they  were  let  loose  on  the  flank 
of  Grants  marching  army  five  weeks  later.     Traitors   at  ^ome  were 
sowing  discord  among  the  people,  with  the  expectation  that  the  infec- 
tion  would   spread    to   their  brethren  in   the  army      At  this   crisis 
the    young  Governor  of  the    State     which     supplied     such    a    great 
portion   of   that  army,    appeared  upon  the   scene        What   a   setting 
the  picture   had  !     The    Great  Commander  and  his   brilliant   escort, 
many  hundreds  of  the  fair  women  of  Virginia  on   horseback  and  in 
carriages,  and  the  grim  veterans  and  their  tattered  flags  !     And  what  a 
theme      He   was   fresh   from  the  triumph  of  the   great   Wilkesboro 
speech  with  which  he  opened  his  anti-Holden  campaign  athome  ;  and 
this  was  a  last  appeal  to  the  men  at  the  front  to  stand  to  their  colors 
even  though  that  required  their  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the   wails  of 
those    dependent   upon   them.     His  fiery    eloquence   bewitched    the 
ereat  Virginia^  and  his  companions,  while  it  wrought  our  Carolinian 
foldiers  up  to  the  highest  pitch  of  patriotic  fervor.     No  wonder  they 
made  their  imperishable  record  in  the  unprecedented  campaigns  that 
followed. 


184  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

Twenty-one  years  later  I  sat  upon  the  platform  with  Mr.  Gladstone 
in  the  Free  Trade  Hall  in  Manchester,  when  the  grand  old  man  opened 
his  Home  Rule  campaign  with  the  memorable  "Manchester  Speech." 
The  surroundings  certainly  were  very  different,  but  the  cause  was  the 
same  ;  and,  having  in  consideration  the  fact  that  each  speaker's  object 
was  to  sway  great  bodies  of  men  in  behalf  of  a  people's  freedom,  I 
believe  that  Vance's  was  the  greater  effort. 

Those  who  heard  him  then  and  survived  the  war  brought  the 
impression  home  with  them. 

These  bonds  were  not  of  the  kind  to  lightly  fall  apart ;  they  as- 
serted themselves  when  he  appeared  before  the  people  at  another 
crisis,  in  1876  ;  and,  contrary  to  the  expectation  of  those  who  at  a  more 
recent  period  calculated  upon  the  change  which  a  new  generation 
might  introduce,  they  were  found  to  be  practically  unimpaired.  The 
same  kind  of  sentimentalists  who  filled  the  ranks  of  North  Carolina's 
regiments  and  the  graves  of  her  dead  in  the  war  rallied  at  the  sound 
of  his  voice,  this  time,  also.  The  very  thing  in  his  letter  of  July  i8th, 
1893,  to  the  Mecklenburg  Alliance,  which  so  inflamed  his  enemies,  was 
the  token  by  which  the  multituderecognized  their  leader  and  defender. 
No  doubt  the  wave  of  disapproval  which  swept  along  the  highways  of 
the  State  at  his  words  of  advice  and  warning,  and  found  unkindly 
voice  in  some  thoughtless  quarters,  brought  sorrow  to  his  heart,  but 
he  never  for  a  moment  doubted  what  the  verdict  of  the  silent  masses 
would  be,  or  felt  uncertain  of  the  wisdom  of  his  proposition. 

Time  has,  unfortunately  for  us  all,  approved  his  foresight.  If 
genius  be  the  power  of  mastering  infinite  details,  Vance  possessed  it 
in  an  eminent  degree.  Its  flashes  before  the  public  were  but  sparks 
from  the  forges  in  his  laboratory.  He  was  a  hard  student,  not  only  of 
the  stored  wisdom  of  the  ages,  but  of  the  daily  run  of  affairs.  What 
seemed  oftentimes,  therefore,  to  be  a  supernatural  facultj'  of  foreseeing 
events  veiled  from  ordinary  men — as,  for  example,  the  vivid  literalness 
of  the  prophecy  in  his  last  great  silver  speech — was  but  the  result  of 
his  unbounded  knowledge. 

One  cannot  deduce  a  conclusion  from  facts  unless  he  know  them. 
No  one  expects  to  gather  figs  fro:n  thistles,  but  it  is  not  every  one  who 
recognizes  the  thistle.  Vance  never  believed  that  Mr.  Cleveland  was  a 
Democrat.  He  thought  that  way  at  Chicago  in  1884;  and  he  predicted 
in  March,  1893,  before  the  extra  session  was  called  and  its  object 
dreamed  of,  that  the  President  would  do  something  "to  set  us  all  by 
the  ears" — not  because  he  doubted  the  good  faith  of  the  head  of  his 
party,  but  because  he  knew  that  the  President's  training  and  beliefs 
were  not  Democratic.  His  prediction  then  was  as  preciselj'  fulfilled  as 
the  more  famous  one  embodied  in  his  speech  six  months  later. 

The  keynote  to  Vance's  position  in  that  great  speech,  on  the  pro- 
position to  repeal  the  Sherman  law  unconditionally,  was  given  by  him 
to  a  reporter  who  called  upon  him  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  hotel  in  New 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  185 

York  on  the  morning  after  his  Washington's  birthday  speech  before  the 
Southern  Society,  in  February,  1893.  The  reporter  said  that  he  had 
been  instructed  to  ask  hiiu  if  he  was  in  favor  of  carrying  out  the 
mandates  of  the  Chicago  platform,  referring  especially  to  those  con- 
cerning the  currency.  "Yes,"  said  Vance,  wath  emphasis,  '^ every  one 
of  them  !"  He  meant  that  the  provisions  of  that  famous  document 
were  the  result  of  a  compromise  in  which  one  proposition  was  balanced 
against  another.  He  had  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  alternative  of  inter- 
national agreement  on  a  ratio,  was  a  concession  by  the  South  and  West 
to  New  York  and  the  East ;  that  the  reference  was  to  the  Brussels 
Conference,  impending  at  the  time  the  platform  was  adopted  ;  and  that 
failure  there  should  be  followed  by  action  under  the  legislative  alter- 
native. He  also  regarded  the  recommendation  for  the  repeal  of  the  10 
per  cent,  tax  on  State  bank  issues  as  part  of  the  compromise.  But,  as 
the  tax  had  been  demonstrated,  in  the  Democratic  minority  report  on 
this  subject  the  3^ear  before,  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  as  the  recom- 
mendation in  the  platform  was  the  result  of  that  report,  he  believed 
that  if  the  tax  were  to  be  repealed  as  a  compliance  with  the  platform, 
no  condition  could  be  attached  to  its  repeal.  The  President,  at  a  later 
period,  overlooked  this  important  point,  so  clear  to  Vance's  high  in- 
telligence. It  is  worth  recalling  that  Vance  was  the  author  of  the 
report  referred  to. 

As  one  looks  back — now  "that  we  realize  how  completely  the  prom- 
ise to  substitute  a  proper  silver  coinage  law  for  the  Sherman  law,  if 
that  should  be  repealed  in  consideration  of  the  promise,  was  broken — 
it  seems  incredible  that  anyone  could  have  failed  to  see  the  ioWy  of 
trusting  to  the  "generosity  of  capital"  to  fulfil  what  only  its  greed 
caused  it  to  pledge  itself  to.  Vance,  it  will  be  recalled,  was  the  object 
of  much  scornful  criticism  at  the  time  for  his  want  of  trustfulness. 

One  of  the  curious  misapprehensions  of  Vance's  course,  which 
certain  interests  fomented,  was  the  idea  that  he  had  compromised 
himself  in  his  so-called  pledge  at  the  time  of  his  re-election 
to  the  vSenate  in  1S91.  On  the  contrary,  nothing  could  have 
been  more  loyal  to  the  doctrine  of  the  party  whose  flag  he  bore  than 
the  declaration  that  he  recognized  the  right  of  instruction  by  the  Leg- 
islature, and  nothing  more  candid  and  manly  than  his  assertion  of  the 
privilege  he  reserved  of  resigning  his  office  if  such  his  instructions 
should  require  him  to  violate  his  party's  principles. 

Probably  the  most  extraordinary  of  Vance's  triumphs  was  his  se- 
curing a  reversal,  by  his  minority  report,  of  the  decision  regarding  the 
admission  to  the  Senate  of  Mr.  Lee  Mantle,  who  had  been  appointed 
by  the  Governor  after  the  Legislature  of  his  State  had  failed  to  avail 
itself  of  its  right  to  elect.  Yet  that  report  was  dictated  off-hand*  to  his 
stenographer,  after  bed  time,  after  days  and  days  of  weary  attentions 
to  office  seekers  and  others,  and  when  the  shadow  of  death  was  upon 
him.  ^ 


1 86  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

Some  critics  have  expressed  the  opinion  that  one  or  two  other 
speeches  in  the  great  debate  over  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  law  sur- 
passed Vance's.  But  Vance's  will,  be  held  to  be  the  greatest,  I  think, 
if  it  be  looked  at  in  the  light  of  what  military  men  call  "  grand  strat- 
egy." It  was  not  intended  for  a  treatise  on  the  silver  problem,  so  much 
as  demonstration  of  the  political  and  strategic  folly  of  the  measure 
under  consideration.  From  this,  the  proper  and  higher  point  of  view, 
it  was  without  a  rival  in  that  unrivaled  debate. 

Vance  was  one  of  the  few  Sovithern  men  who  have  received  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  made  honorary  members  of  the  Cobden  Club.  He 
was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  the  great  men  who  compose  its 
membership,  and  his  death  was  appropriately  noted  by  them. 

A  distinguished  Senator,  a  high  authority  in  such  matters,  said  at 
Asheville  that  in  a  running  debate  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  in  which 
a  large  equipment  as  well  as  readiness  were  required,  Vance  had  no 
equal  in  his  day — a  decade  past. 

In  enumerating  Vance's  leading  traits,  I  have  placed  his  sense  of 
duty  first.  I  think  that  overshadowed  all  his  other  virtues.  Under 
this  general  head  fall  his  loyalty  to  a  trust,  which  was  absolute — that, 
for  example,  which  the  party  that  gave  him  ofiice  imposed  upon  him — 
and  his  incorruptibility.  When  he  voted  for  the  investigation  of  the 
sugar  and  other  scandals,  and  against  the  confirmation  of  Van  Alen's 
appointment,  he  took  his  stand  on  the  side  of  purity  in  national 
affairs.  And  when  he  voted  against  the  confirmation  of  Hornblower's 
and  Peckham's  appointments  he  paid  tribute  to  his  part}'  loyalty.  In 
harmony  with  this  were  his  views  on  the  subject  of  "  bolting,"  which 
he  gave  in  such  a  ringing  way  in  his  address  issued  at  the  crisis  of  the 
campaign  of  1892.  He  scorned  a  bolter,  but  he  had  an  even  greater 
contempt  for  the  man  who  ought  to  bolt  but  who  retained  the  benefit 
of  his  party's  name  while  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy.  At 
the  same  time  he  was  charitable  and  tolerant  to  the  last  degree 
towards  those  who  openly  changed  their  beliefs  when  free  to  do  so. 
The  people  keep  very  close  watch  upon  those  in  high  position.  Per- 
haps his  undeviating  loyalty  to  his  constituents,  in  a  corrupt  era, 
constituted  his  strongest  hold  upon  them. 

With  the  death  of  Vance,  the  State  lost  the  only  man  produced  by 
her  who  has  enjoyed  since  the  war  what  may  properly  be  designated  as 
a  national  reputation. 

Everything  considered,  it  must  be  said,  I  think,  deliberately,  that 
Vance  stands  almost  head  and  shoulders  above  any  other  man  produced 
by  us — "one  of  the  grandest  public  men,"  as  Mr.  Brj-an  has  said  in  his 
book,  "given  to  this  nation,  not  alone  by  North  Carolina,  but  by  the 
entire  country." 

[From  Wade  Hampton.] 
I   have  your  letter  of  the   igtli  uUimo,  wherein  you  say  tliat  }-ou 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  1 87 

are  preparing  a  life  of  Senator  Vance,  and  wonld  like  to  have  me  con- 
tribute to  the  same. 

I  have  been  confined  to  my  home  in  South  Carolina  b}-  an  illness 
for  the  past  three  months,  and  have  onlj-  recentl}^  resumed  my  official 
duties  here.  It  gives  me  pleasure,  however,  to  recall  the  little  inci- 
dent to  which  you  refer  in  your  letter.  Years  ago,  while  Governor  of 
North  Carolina  and  traveling  in  the  far  West,  Senator  Vance  met  a 
Westerner  of  convivial  habits,  and  after  they  had  conversed  upon  vari- 
ous topics  for  some  time,  the  fellow  said  to  Vance  :  "As  the  Governor 
of  North  Carolina  said  to  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  it  is  now 
time  to  take  a  drink,"  not  knowing  that  he  was  addressing  the  very 
Governor  to  whom  the  expression  had  been  attributed.  They  shook 
hands  and  took  a  drink. 

I  should  be  delighted  to  contribute  an  article  relating  to  the  inci- 
dents of  my  long  associations  with  my  old  finend  in  the  Senate.  But, 
as  stated  above,  my  health  has  suffered  much  from  the  effects  of  an 
old  wound,  and  I  feel  unequal  to  the  undertaking.  vSenator  Vance, 
however,  was  a  very  able  man  in  the  Senate,  and  in  all  the  eminent 
positions  to  which  he  was  raised  by  the  people  of  his  State,  his  public 
actions  were  marked  by  purity  of  intentions  and  as  eminating  from  a  y^" 
man  of  unusual  strength. 

[From  Hamilton  C.  Jones.] 

It  is  difficult  to  write  of  a  man  like  Governor  Vance  so  soon  after 
his  death,  at  least  for  those  who  were  much  with  him  or  about  him. 
Incidents,  of  course,  are  numerous,  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  men, 
that  tend  to  show  the  manner  of  man  he  was,  but  they  are  so  numer- 
ous that  they  puzzle  and  distract  by  their  very  number.  To  dwell  upon 
them  could  be  of  little  interest  to  this  generation,  for  they  are  mostly 
known  by  all,  and  every  one  has  his  or  her  own  impression  of  him 
derived  from  personal  contact.  But  it  may  serve  to  aid  the  critical 
historian,  who  in  3^ears  to  come,  shall  venture  to  assign  him  his  place 
in  history,  to  know  the  impressions  he  made  upon  his  contemporaries  ; 
those  who  were  close  to  him  and  saw  him  and  walked  with  him  in  his 
every-day  life,  and  who  heard  him,  too,  when  mighty  crowds  of  men 
listened  to  his  eloquence  or  followed  him  about  obedient  to  his  words. 

It  has  long  since  been  taken  as  true  that  familiaritj'  or  close  con- 
tact with  great  men  greatly  impairs  the  force  of  the  impressions  which 
they  make  upon  us.  This  is  due  most  probably  to  the  fact  that  no  man  is 
perfect  either  in  his  mental  or  moral  make-up,  and  close  scrutiny  re- 
veals blemishes  which  charitable  biographers  or  servile  dependants 
are  careful  not  to  disclose.  But  be  the  cause  of  it  what  it  may,  in  most 
cases  it  is  undeniably  true  that  "  a  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save 
in  his  own  country.  "  It  is  the  severest  test  to  which  greatness  can  be 
subjected,  this  focalized  gaze  of  the  multitude  at  short  range.  This 
test  the  fame  of  Governor  Vance  stood  without  diminution  or  detri- 


1 88  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

ment.  No  man  ever  occupied  so  many  exhalted  positions  through  so 
many  years  as  he  did,  and  yet  lived  in  closer  contact  with  his  people, 
or  was  to  such  a  degree  part  and  parcel  of  them.  His  intercourse  with 
all  classes  cultivated  and  uncultivated  was  always  close  and  was  char- 
acterized by  an  easy  and  graceful  familiarity  that  placed  him  in 
thorough  touch  with  them,  yet  throughout  his  life  he  was  to  them  a 
great  leader,  an  infallible  guide  and  an  incorruptible  patriot.  Thus  it 
was  that  when  he  died,  there  was  manifested  everywhere  a  feeling  akin 
to  dismay.  With  one  voice  men  said  that  the  greatest  man  North  Car- 
olina ever  produced  was  dead,  and  that  this  generation  would  not  see 
his  like  again.  Their  hearts  were  sore,  and  they  wept  because  they 
loved  him,  but  mingled  with  their  sorrow  was  the  gloomy  conscious- 
ness that  they  had  sustained  a  loss  which  was  well  nigh  irreparable, 
and  thus  it  was  seen  that  he  at  least  was  not  without  honor  in  his  own 
country.  But  tried  by  any  test,  it  must  be  conceded  that  he  was  in 
truth  a  great  man,  for  it  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  during 
his  whole  life  he  was  subjected  to  trials,  and  it  may  be  said  with  equal 
truth  that  he  failed  in  nothing.  His  early  life  was  a  struggle  with 
poverty  in  a  determined  effort  to  procure  an  education,  and  in  early 
manhood,  he  emerges  from  obscurity,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time 
took  his  place  among  the  best  known  and  most  trusted  public  men  of 
his  day  in  this  State.  This  was  at  a  time  of  great  political  agitation. 
The  stupendous  events  of  the  next  few  years  were  rapidly  shaping 
themselves.  The  old  Whig  party,  the  sole  remnant  of  the  ancient  con- 
servatism of  the  country,  was  making  its  last  stand  about  the  Constitu- 
tion and  Union.  Opposed  to  it  in  the  South  was  a  party  led  by  many 
brilliant  orators,  and  ardent,  brave  men,  who  had  dispaired  of  main- 
taining the  old  Union,  and  were  advocating  secession.  Gov.  Vance 
was  a  Whig  by  inheritance,  and  in  this  great  crisis  he  came  into 
public  life  as  one  of  its  representatives,  first  in  the  Legislature 
and  then  in  the  National  House  of  Representatives.  He  was  a  born 
orator,  and  his  whole  soul  was  enlisted  in  the  cause,  and  with 
so  great  a  theme,  he  electrified  his  audiences  above  measure.  The 
writer  remembers  to  have  heard  some  of  these  early  efforts  of  his,  and 
though  he  heard  him  many  times  afterwards,  when  time,  study  and 
varied  experience  had  toned  somewhat  his  ardent  spirit,  and  ripened 
and  matured  his  judgment,  he  doubts  if  he  ever  excelled  in  true  force 
and  effectiveness  the  efforts  of  those  earlier  years.  The  impression 
which  he  made  upon  his  hearers  was  enhanced  by  a  decided  boyish  ap- 
pearance, for  he  had  a  youthful,  almost  boyish,  face,  a  bright  color, 
and  a  singularly  quick  and  alert  manner. 

These  all  vanished  amid  the  cares  and  disappointments  of  the  next 
few  years,  and  when  he  merged  from  them,  there  were  lines  on  his  face 
cut  deep  and  traces  of  sorrow  that  were  never  erased.  It  is  doubtful 
if  Governor  Vance  ever  enjoyed  perfect  health  after  his  imprisonment 
at  the  close  of  the  war,  a  fact  that  tends  to  enhance  the  wonder  at  his 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  1 89 

achievements.  He  had  thrown  himself  into  the  great  struggle  be- 
tween the  sections  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  nature,  and  the  disastrous 
result  affected  him  to  a  degree  that  was  little  understood  except  by 
those  who  were  intimately  associated  with  him.  At  this  time  his 
situation  was  such  as  might  well  have  broken  the  spirit  of  a  man  less 
resolute  and  courageous  than  himself.  He  had  come  out  of  the  war 
without  means  ;  he  was  banned  politically  by  reason  of  his  participa- 
tion in  the  war  ;  he  was  threatened  with  prosecution  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  had  dependent  upon  him  a  devoted  wife  and  a  family  of 
young  children.  To  those  of  us  who  knew  him  there  is  no  period  of 
his  life  that  more  fully  illustrates  his  great  courage  than  this.  He 
had  never  previous  to  this  devoted  much  time  to  his  profession, 
as  indeed  he  had  little  time  to  do  so,  but  he  resolutely  betook  himself 
to  work  in  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  in  a  few  years  he  was  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  practice  that  was  lucrative  for  this  section,  at  that 
time.  He  was  soon  recognized  as  the  very  foremost  jury  lawyer  in  the 
State,  and  some  of  his  speeches  at  the  bar  are  still  spoken  of  by  his 
contemporaries  as  among  the  iinest  efforts  the  bar  of  this  State  has 
known. 

To  one  who  had  devoted  almost  all  of  his  previous  life  to  the  public 
service,  the  practice  of  the  law  was  naturally  not  very  congenial,  and  be- 
sides, he,  in  common  with  everyone,  felt  that  so  soon  as  his  disabilities 
were  removed  the  people  of  the  State  would  call  him  again  into  the 
public  service,  and  so  it  came  about,  for  the  first  Democratic  Legisla- 
ture that  was  elected  in  North  Carolina  after  the  war  elected  him  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  How  he  was  refused  admittance  to  the 
Senate,  because  of  his  disabilities,  how  he  was  afterward  nominated  by 
his  party  in  the  Legislature  to  the  same  position,  and  was  defeated  by 
Judge  Merrimon,  are  matters  of  history  now.  These  disappointments 
made  his  heart  sore  at  the  time,  but  they  served  only  to  intensify  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  the  people  of  the  State  were  to  vindicate  him, 
and  manifest  their  love  for  him  in  the  3^ears  to  come.  Still  memorable 
in  the  history  and  tradition  of  this  State  is  the  great  canvass  of  1876 
between  Governor  Vance  and  Judge  Settle.  They  had  both  been  prom- 
inent as  young  men  in  politics  before  the  war,  Governor  Vance  as  Whig, 
Judge  Settle  as  a  Douglass  Democrat,  and  both  had  been  ardent  Union 
men.  At  the  close  of  the  war  Judge  Settle  had  allied  himself  with  the 
Republican  party,  while  Governor  Vance  had  devoted  himself  to  build- 
ing up  the  Democratic  party.  They  were  not  far  from  the  same  age. 
They  were  both  men  of  conspicuous  ability,  and  great  reputation  as 
public  speakers,  and  it  was  well  understood  that  the  mastery  of  North 
Carolina  for  years  to  come  was  dependent  upon  the  result  of  that  cam- 
paign. Under  such  circumstances,  and  with  two  such  men,  it  was  to  be 
expected  that  the  contest  would  be  a  brilliant  one,  and  so  it  was.  Each 
enhanced  his  already  great  reputation,  and  as  a  result  each  in  after 
times  had  marked  manifestations  of  the  gratitude  and  approval  of  his 


190  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

party.  As  is  well  known,  Governor  Vance  remained  but  a  short  while 
in  the  gubernatorial  office,  when,  with  glad  acclamation  the  people, 
through  their  representatives,  elected  him  to  the  Senate.  This  was  a 
great  triumph  for  him,  and  he  was  justly  proud  of  it,  but  when  the 
time  came  for  him  to  take  his  place  in  the  Senate,  it  is  certain  that  he 
rather  recoiled  at  the  prospect  that  lay  open  before  him,  for  he  well 
knew  that  it  meant  for  him  a  life  of  hard  stud}'  and  unremitting  labor. 
He  had  figured  conspicuously  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  where 
his  brilliant  talents  made  it  easy  for  him  to  shine,  but  in  the  new  field 
there  were  other  qualities  and  new  attainments  necessary.  At  that 
time,  too,  representative  men  of  the  South  were  greatly  hampered  in 
Congress  by  the  anomalous  relation  which  the  reconstructed  States 
bore  to  the  general  Government. 

The  undisguised  hostility  of  the  Northern  sentiment  to  the  South, 
and  the  continued  threat  of  further  coercion,  compelled  the  exercise 
of  prudence  and  fettered  free  utterance  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  For 
a  bold  man  like  Governor  Vance,  and  one  who  loved  his  people,  and 
was  justly  proud  of  them  and  their  exploits  during  the  war,  the  pros- 
pect was  not  a  pleasing  one,  and  the  writer  remembers  thatonh-  a  few 
days  before  he  took  his  leave  for  Washington,  in  a  conversation  in  the 
executive  office  at  Raleigh,  he  spoke  rather  gloomil}'  of  the  impend- 
ing change,  and  said  that  personally  he  wouldgreatly  prefer  to  remain 
the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  near  the  people  among  whom  he  had 
been  born,  and  with  whom  he  had  been  so  closely  identified  all  his 
life  through.  The  new  life  in  truth  entailed  upon  him  arduous  toil, 
and  many  great  responsibilities,  and  they  shortened  his  life,  but  they 
made  for  him  a  great  and  enduring  national  reputation.  One  cannot 
write  or  think  of  Governor  Vance  at  any  length  without  constant  re- 
currence to  his  marvelous  popularity.  There  was  no  time  from  the 
year  1862,  when  he  was  first  elected  Governor,  down  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  that  he  did  not  absolutely  command  anj-  position  that  he  de- 
sired at  the  hands  of  the  people.  He  dictated  matters  of  public  policy 
to  them,  and  they  followed  him  without  question,  and  to  this  day, 
there  abides  a  conviction  with  them  that  he  was  thoroughly  unselfish 
in  all  that  he  did,  and  that  his  wisdom  was  unerring.  The  force  of  his 
great  personality  in  the  aflFairs  of  this  State  is  best  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  the  party  which  he  was  so  largely  instrumental  in  building 
up  in  the  State,  maintained  its  solidity  so  long  as  he  lived,  and  well 
nigh  went  to  pieces  when  he  died.  It  was  as  if  the  very  principle  of 
cohesion  had  gone  out  of  it  when  he  was  no  longer  at  its  head.  It  is 
useless  to  philosophize  upon  the  character  of  Governor  Vance.  His 
people  knew  him.  They  had  scanned  him  closel}-,  and  they  well  un- 
derstood him.  They  are  not  a  people  given  to  exaggerate  the  virtues 
of  their  public  men,  but  are  rather  given  to  caviling  and  complaining, 
and  yet  of  all  who  knew  him,  the  dead  have  left  it  on  record,  and  the 
living  still  testify  that  he  was  pure  of  heart,  loyal  to  his  people,  un- 
selfish and  absolutely  incorruptible. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  IQI 

Those  who  write  the  history  of  his  time  in  years  to  come  will 
find  this  testimonial  written  everywhere  when  he  is  spoken  of.  Of  the 
arts  of  the  politician  Governor  Vance  knew  little  or  nothing.  He  did 
not  cultivate  the  faculty  of  ingratiating  himself  with  the  people  as 
many  public  men  do  with  a  view  of  obtaining  pcrferment.  His  inter- 
course with  them  was  always  agreeable  to  him.  It  was  a  recreation 
and  source  of  amusement,  and  he  was  never  better  satisfied  than  when 
he  was  down  among  the  rural  population  of  North  Carolina,  living 
their  simple  life  and  joining  in  their  homely  talk.  Social  life,  as  it  is 
commonly  understood,  had  very  little  charm  for  him,  yet  in  the  drawing 
room  as  elsewhere,  people  gathered  around  him,  and  enjoyed  his  wit 
and  hiimorous  conversation,  but  the  requirements  of  society  life  were 
not  to  his  liking,  and  he  much  preferred  informal,  social  intercourse 
with  those  he  liked.  He  has  left  a  reputation  as  a  great  humorist,  and 
people  generally  think  of  him  as  possessed  of  a  uniform  buoyanc)' 
and  vivacity.  But  this  is  not  true.  On  the  contrary,  he  experienced 
times  of  great  despondency,  at  least  this  was  so  previous  to  his  going 
into  the  Senate.  During  these  fits  of  despondency  he  suffered  acutely, 
and  had  often  difficulty  in  rousing  himself,  but  he  never  intruded  his 
troubles  upon  his  friends,  but  rather  endured  them  with  the  same 
resolute  courage  that  he  displayed  everywhere.  In  fact,  analyzing  his 
character,  we  would  put  his  courage  as  foremost  among  his  personal 
characteristics.  He  had  great  opportunities  to  enrich  himself  during 
his  public  service,  notably  during  the  war,  when  he  was  directing  the 
war  commerce  of  the  State  with  Europe,  and  yet  he  died  poor.  One 
hesitates  to  mention  honesty  in  enumerating  the  virtues  of  a  man  like 
Governor  Vance,  because  no  one  ever  associates  his  name  with  dis- 
honesty. But  many  men  lack  true  courage,  who  are  otherwise  con- 
spicuous for  their  virtues.  The  personage  in  history  that  he  most 
admired,  were  Cromwell,  John  Hampden,  and  those  other  resolute 
men  of  that  time  who  during  nearly  half  of  the  seventeenth  century 
in  Parliament  and  on  the  battle  field,  fought  against  the  tj^ranny  and 
usurpation  of  the  Stuarts.  He  was  accustomed  to  say  that  there  was  no 
courage  like  theirs,  that  endured  and  suffered  and  fought  so  long,  and 
that  to  them  above  all  men  we  were  indebted  for  nearly  every  principle 
of  liberty,  and  free  government  that  we  now  enjoy.  He  hated  tyranny 
and  oppression  in  every  shape  and  form,  and  for  those  great  English- 
men who  slew  a  King  and  overthrew  a  dynasty  that  stood  in  the  way 
of  their  liberties  his  admiration  was  unbounded. 

He  not  only  detested  oppression,  but  his  resentment  of  it  was 
fierce,  and  hence,  it  was  that  to  the  last  he  felt  great  bitterness  over 
his  own  treatment  and  that  of  his  people  after  the  war  closed.  He 
himself  had  been  summarily  ejected  from  the  office  of  Governor  to 
which  he  had  been  duly  elected,  and  while  to  him  personally,  this 
was  no  lasting  grievance,  to  his  people  he  felt  it  to  be  a  great  wrong. 
He  could  have   forgotten  even  the  indignitj^  of  his  imprisonment,  but 


192  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  many  needless  humilations  to  which  the  State  was  subjected  dur- 
ing the  process  of  reconstruction  was  to  his  mind  so  many  instances 
of  oppression  and  wrong.  In  later  years  he  did  not  speak  often  of 
these  things,  but  when  he  did  it  was  in  terms  of  wrathful  indignation. 
He  was  genial  and  forgiving  above  most  men,  but  it  is  hard,  indeed, 
for  a  brave,  strong,  patriotic  man  to  witness  in  helplessness  the  humili- 
ation of  his  country,  and  in  the  after  times  to  look  back  upon  it 
with  patience.  In  such  cases  forgiveness  comes  late  if  ever,  and  so  it  was 
with  him.  But  this  was  almost  the  only  trace  of  bitterness  to  be 
found  in  him,  and  it  did  not  impair  his  capacity  for  usefulness  in  the 
councils  of  the  nation.  He  did  not  harbor  it  nor  cheerish  it.  He 
simply  could  not  get  rid  of  it.  But  it  never  caused  him  to  do  injustice 
to  others,  and  above  all,  he  did  not  suffer  it  to  lead  him  to  utterances 
that  might  retard  the  restoration  of  peace  and  fraternal  regard  be- 
tween the  two  great  sections. 

North  Carolina  may  well  erect  monuments  to  commemorate  his 
virtues  and  his  public  services,  for  to  her  his  services  were  devotedly 
and  ungrudgingly  given.  It  was  he,  more  than  all,  who  rescued  her 
from  hopeless  civil  distruction  and  insured  for  her  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury of  pure,  honest  government  under  which  her  people  prospered 
and  repaired  the  wrongs  of  the  war.  His  fame  is  a  matter  of  just 
pride  to  his  State  and  will  ever  be,  but  she  will  not  forget  that,  brilliant 
as  his  life  was,  it  was  fruitful  to  her  of  practical  results  and  mutual 
benefits  that  genius  and  brilliant  achievements  do  not  always  effect. 

[From  James  D.  Mclver.] 

I  have  been  asked  more  than  once  to  give  some  of  the  causes  of 
Senator  Vance's  great  personal  popularit}-.  It  is  hard  to  tell  where  to 
begin  and  still  harder  to  know  just  where  to  end,  as  the  truth  seems 
to  be  that  everything  was  united  in  one  harmonious  whole  to  make 
him  the  idol  of  all  who  knew  him.  My  first  acquaintance  with  him 
w-as  in  the  army  of  1861,  when  he  took  command  of  the  Twenty-sixth 
North  Carolina  Regiment  as  its  Colonel. 

His  unbounded  wit  and  humor,  kindness  of  heart  and  high  sense 
of  honor  made  him  at  once  a  great  favorite  with  those  of  us  who  be- 
longed to  his  command. 

At  this  time  army  life,  military  tactics,  drilling,  marching,  counter- 
marching, etc.,  were  all  new  to  us;  we  had  heard  of  the  "  times  that 
tried  men's  souls,"  but  knew  as  yet  nothing  about  them.  Our  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel,  H.  K.  Burgwin,  a  noble  and  gallent  young  man,  had 
been  brought  up  in  a  military  school.  He  was  a  good  tactician  and 
taught  the  ofiicers  of  the  regiment,  including  Colonel  Vance,  the 
manual  of  arms.  One  day  after  regimental  drill,  he  informed  Colonel 
Vance  that  he  noticed  a  mistake  that  he,  Vance,  had  made  while  on 
drill,  and  that  was  that  he  brought  the  regiment  from  present  arms 
to  order  arms,  and  this,  said  Colonel  Burgwin  cannot  be  done.     Vance 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  1 93 

at  once  replied,  "  you  are  mistaken,  Colonel,  for  I  have  just  done  that 
very  thing." 

On  one  occasion,  while  we  were  in  camp  on  "  Bogue  Banks,  "  the 
officer  of  the  guard,  while  on  duty  at  night,  found  it  necessary  to 
send  to  the  Colonel's  tent  several  times  for  instruction  in  regard  to  one 
of  the  "  Pee  Dee  Wild  Cats,"  then  in  the  guard  house.  The  Colonel 
gave  the  instruction  asked  for,  and  added  that  he  did  not  care  to  hear 
any  more  from  Creps,  the  prisoner,  nor  from  the  officer  that  night. 
The  aforesaid  officer  took  exception  to  this.  Feeling  that  he  had  done 
his  duty  and  nothing  more,  he  went  to  Colonel  Vance's  tent  next  morn- 
ing and  told  him  plainly  how  he  felt  about  it.  The  Colonel  at  once 
made  a  complete  and  manly  apology,  so  much  so,  that  he  and  the 
officer  were  fast  friends  from  then  on.  He  was  uniformly  kind  and 
agreeable  to  his  officers  and  men,  and  never  intentionall)'  wounded  the 
feelings  of  any  officer  or  private.  To  show  his  kindness  of  heart  and 
sympathy  for  his  men,  I  remember  well  on  our  retreat  from  Newbern, 
he  took  a  wounded  soldier  to  ride  behind  him  ;  and  on  another  occa- 
sion, while  on  a  long,  hot  march  from  Malvern  Hill  in  July,  1862,  he 
noticed  a  private  soldier,  almost  broken  down,  with  his  gun  and  cum- 
bersome knapsack,  and  called  him  by  name  and  said:  "Here,  take 
my  horse."  He  dismounted  and  assisted  the  poor  fellow  in  getting  on 
the  horse  and  went  on  foot  with  the  rest  of  us.  Many  other  similar  in- 
stances might  be  given  illustrating  the  kind-hearted  and  good  man 
that  he  was. 

He  was  elected  Governor  while  in  command  of  his  regiment.  I 
can  never  forget  his  last  night  in  the  army  and  his  final  leave-taking 
next  day.  Before  bidding  us  adieu  he  made  a  speech  which  will  never 
be  forgotten  until  the  last  member  of  the  dear  old  Twenty-Sixth  Regi- 
ment shall  have  passed  over  the  River  and  are  resting  under  the  shade 
of  the  trees.  I  will  not  attempt  a  synopsis  of  his  speech,  for  to  those 
who  knew  him,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he  was  then  a  young  man,  in 
full  vigor  and  in  his  happiest  mood.  After  the  speech  the  officers  of 
the  regiment  presented  him  with  a  sword.  The  next  day  he  left  for 
Raleigh  to  become  North  Carolina's  War  Governor.  His  record  as 
Governor  during  the  war,  and  again  in  1876,  is  known  and  read  of  all 
men.  It  may  be  said  of  Senator  Vance,  as  has  been  said  of  Mr.  Glad- 
stone, his  greatness  cannot  be  estimated  because  there  is  nothing  with 
which  to  compare  him. 

[From  William  J.  Montgomery.] 
Some  one  said  of  Daniel  Webster  "that  he  was  just  like  other 
men,  except  that  there  was  a  great  deal  more  of  him  than  there  was 
of  other  men."  This  could  not  be  said  of  Senator  Vance.  He  was 
unique — had  rare  and  well  defined  marks  of  individuality.  This  in- 
dividuality was  a  potent  factor  of  his  power,  usefulness  and  popu- 
larity. 

14 


194  WFE   OF   VANCE. 

It  was  seen  in  all  his  speeches  at  the  bar,  on  the  hustings,  and  in 
the  halls  of  Congress. 

Among  his  prominent  characteristics  I  would  mention  : 

That  he  had  a  large  share  of  common  sense  together  with  an  in- 
tuitive knowledge  of  men  and  things  and  that  mother-wit  which  is 
genius. 

He  was  conscious  of  his  own  power  and  knew  when  and  where  to 
exert  it. 

At  the  moment  when  utter  disaster  and  hopeless  destruction 
seemed  inevitable  to  his  cause,  then  he  was  at  his  best,  and  then  it  was 
that  by  a  judicious  use  of  an  imperial  judgment  and  a  genius  of  almost 
matchless  proportions,  he  was  able  to  employ  every  variety  of  polemics 
known  to  debate,  repartee  and  ridicule,  reason  and  reproach,  rhetoric 
and  rhapshody,  sympathy  and  scorn,  irony  and  invective,  seriousness 
and  sarcasm,  wit  and  wisdom,  until  his  opponent  bewildered,  con- 
founded and  overwhelmed,  retired  from  the  field. 

Senator  Vance  was  a  true  patriot. 

He  loved  North  Carolina  with  a  love  of  a  devoted  son. 

Patriotism  is  said  to  be  a  common  impulse,  but  some  people  pos- 
sess it  in  a  superlative  degree  ;  such  was  the  patriotism  of  Senator 
Vance. 

He  dearly  loved  everj^  foot  of  North  Carolina  soil  from  Cherokee  to 
the  Dismal  Swamp. 

Another  prominent  trait  of  his  character  was  his  honesty.  You 
could  always  find  him.  His  strong,  well  defined  beliefs  always  put 
him  on  one  side  of  all  public  questions,  and  there  he  stood  as 
unchangeable  as  the  rock-ribbed  mountains  beneath  whose  sable 
shadows  he  was  born. 

He  never  bartered  his  conscience  for  the  applause  of  the  people, 
or  for  ofiicial  favor  or  patronage. 

Senator  Vance  was  a  truthful  man. 

Suffice  it  to  say  on  this  trait,  that  after  the  memorable  campaign 
by  Senator  Vance  and  Judge  Settle  in  1876  (the  ablest  campaign  in 
North  Carolina  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  centur\-)  Judge 
Settle  said,  "  Zeb  Vance  is  absolutely  a  truthful  man,  for,"  said  he, 
"  in  our  long  heated  campaign  all  over  the  State  Vance  never  quibbled 
or  prevaricated." 

That  sometimes  he  would  utter  something  in  one  section  where  it 
was  popular  when  I  would  get  him  in  another  section  where  it  was 
unpopular,  I  would  charge  him  with  it,  and  he  always  acknowledged 
that  he  had  said  it,  and  manfully  defended  it." 

He  was  a  genuine  friend  of  the  people,  of  the  ma.sses.  He  put  all 
his  time  and  talent  on  the  altar  for  the  people.  His  devotion  to  the 
people  was  not  the  sentiment  of  the  politician,  but  the  abiding  con- 
viction of  the  statesman. 

He  made  the  cause  of  the  people  his  cause  and  boldly  threw  himself 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  ^95 

,vere  forhL  NO  ma.fwas  ever  so  idolized  by  the  people  of  North 
'="1^::^:„;,:!::rclrt  of  hi.  na.e  before  aNorthCar„H..a 
a„dille  .Jand  is  hailed  ^^^^ ^r%l:!Z^:t:^:^. 
"'  ^1?:Lr:h:      ;^af    'r  wLaXi ti  t^^^^  -  court  through 

~^e;^r;r^;J:s:dt-h-;'^s:i:::^- 

■^'^  Err;Tonest  man,  however  hu.nb,e  or  poor,    "  felt  at  honre  "  in 

"'  HeTasped  the  hand  of  the  humble  toiler  with  perhaps  more 
cordfatitf  and  warmth  than  he  did  the  hand  of  the  r.ch  or  powerfnl. 

Il  the  people  loved  him,  snch  was  their  devotion  to  h,m,  so  great 
was  theil  reliance  upon  him.  that  when  his  death  was  known  the  peo- 
ple had  a  feeling  akin  to  that  of  orphanage. 

I  have  thus  succinctly  given  my  opimon  of  Senator  Vance,  connn 
in.  Lylllf  by  request  to  a  few  of  his  prominent  character,st,cs,  and  to 

*°=  ru:r  hS  ^X  "^'^^^^^  >-  at  .he  same  bar  with  him 

'""  BornTd  reared  as  he  was,  beneath  the  shadows  and  sunshine  of 
grearrounUins,  he  caught  the  inspiration  of  his  hfe  work  from  h,s 

""?rht  childhood  he  had  seen  the  storm-cloud  move  in  majesty 
along"    the  misty  mountain's  top  "  and  burst  in  awful  grandeur  upon 

""  HetadlTn  "  the  morn  in  russet  mantle  clad,  walk  o'er  the  dew 
of  yon  high  eastern  hill,  "  and  then  he  had  seen  the  sunset's  mellow 
crinw  silently  garnish  the  heavens  in  golden  beauty.  _ 

^'°"l  have  heard  hin.  when  in  speech  he  was  like  the  -unta.n  tor 
rent-like  the  concreted  tempest  in  force,  and  ag-n  when  he  w^s  as 
lentle  and  pathetic  as  the  mother  at  the  grave  of  her  dead.  Rare 
feS^s,  true'  tribune  of  the  people,  as  unselfish  and  self-sac r.fic.ng  as 
Leulus  as  just  as  Aristides  and  as  brave  as  Csesar  ;  let  him  sleep  m 
fhegave  where  Carolinians  have  buried  him.  where  no  cry  of  oppres- 
sl:>n  can  awake  him,  where  no  sound  of  conflict  in  debate  can  arouse 


him. 


196  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

[From  William  M.  Robbins.] 

At  High  Point,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  while  on  leave  of  absence 
from  the  Confederate  army,  by  reason  of  a  wound  received  at  the  battle 
of  the  wilderness,  I  first  saw  and  heard  Vance  and  learned  what  man- 
ner of  man  he  was.  Thirty-four  years  old,  he  was  then  serving  his 
first  term  as  Governor  of  the  State  and  was  a  candidate  for  re-election. 
His  speech  on  that  occasion  won  my  admiration  not  only  by  its  spark- 
ling wit  and  rare  humor,  but  still  more  by  the  zeal  and  vigor  with 
which  he  advocated  the  strenuous  support  of  the  cause  of  the  South 
in  the  great  sectional  conflict.  This  impressed  and  pleased  me  the 
more  when  I  learned,  as  I  did  that  day,  that  he  had  not  originally 
favored  the  policy  of  secession,  but  when  North  Carolina  cast  her  lot 
with  her  sister  Southern  States,  he  had  gone  with  her,  heart  and  soul, 
resolved  to  share  her  fate  and  fortune  for  weal  or  woe;  and  when  she 
called  him  to  be  her  Governor,  it  was  from  the  camps  of  her  heroes  in 
gray  that  he  responded. 

His  course  in  that  matter  was  an  index  to  his  character  and  career 
through  life.  Above  all  things,  he  was  a  North  Carolinian,  devoted  to 
the  welfare  and  glory  of  the  State,  and  proud  of  her,  as  he  was  her 
pride. 

It  has  so  happened  from  the  course  of  events  during  the  last  age 
that  the  chief  role  of  the  statesman  and  patriot  in  North  Carolina,  a 
large  part  of  the  time  has  been  to  stand  on  the  defensive  in  her  behalf 
against  assaults  from  without  and  within  upon  her  most  vital  interests, 
political  and  social.  It  has  rarely  been  possible  for  her  to  unfurl  her 
sails  with  confidence  to  the  favoring  breezes  of  progress.  The  word 
has  been,  not  "  forward,  march,"  but  "  stand  fast  and  defend." 

After  the  great  convulsion  of  the  Civil  War  which  totally  wrecked 
her  former  social  fabric,  there  came  the  strenuous  contest  against  the 
predatory  rule  of  the  cormorants  who  followed  in  the  wake  of  the 
Union  army,  and  after  its  withdrawal  lingered  behind  to  rob  and 
despoil  us.  Moreover,  there  has  been  all  the  while  going  on  a  struggle, 
which,  unhappily,  is  not  yet  ended,  involving  nothing  less  than  the  pre- 
servation of  genuine  free  popular  institutions  and  even  our  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization  itself  against  the  corrupting  and  corroding  influences  of  a 
debased  and  venal  suffrage  so  improvidently  placed  in  the  hands  of 
a  race  alien  in  origin,  incapable  of  absorption  and  assimilation,  and 
without  traditions  or  experience  of  self  government. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Vance  suffered  the  disadvantage  com- 
mon to  many  others,  of  not  being  able  to  link  his  name,  so  much  as  it 
otherwise  might  have  been,  with  great  positive  progressive  measures 
devised  and  put  in  operation  for  the  advancement  and  glory  of  the 
vState  and  her  people  ;  l)ut  his  fame  must  rest  rather  upon  what  he  did 
to  rescue  and  shield  them  from  injury  and  evil. 

As  a  war  Governor,  Vance'certainly  had  no  superior  if  any  equal  in 
the  Southern  State.     His  wise  and  energetic  administration  of  affairs, 


I.IFE  OF  VANCE.  I97 

sustained  as  it  was  b}'  the  devoted  patriotism  and  liigh  spirit  of  the 
people,  enabled  North  Carolina  to  put  more  soldiers  in  the  field  during 
the  war,  according  to  the  Confederate  records,  than  any  other  South- 
ern State,  and  to  keep  them  better  clothed,  shod  and  supplied  than 
any  others.  Such  at  least  was  the  prevalent  opinion  and  common 
remark  of  the  Confederate  soldiers  from  other  States,  for  whom  I 
venture  to  speak  on  this  matter,  having  myself  served  through  the 
war  as  an  Alabamian.  His  conspicuous  activity  and  efficiency  in 
support  of  the  Southern  cause  made  such  an  impression  upon  the 
Federal  authorities  that  after  our  defeat  he  was  among  the  first  to  be 
arrested  and  imprisoned  by  them  as  one  of  the  chief  offenders  ;  and 
their  feelings  of  resentment  against  him  were  so  bitter  and  lasting 
that  they  refused  to  remove  his  political  disabilities  after  most  others 
who  asked  for  it  had  been  relieved  ;  and  he  was  thereby  kept  out  of  a 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate  for  the  term  beginning  in  187 1,  to 
which  he  had  been  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Caro- 
lina. It  was  soon  after  this  that  two  Christian  ministers,  traveling 
with  him  on  the  train,  got  into  an  argument  over  the  theological  doc- 
trine of  election,  and  finally  asked  Vance  for  his  opinion  on  it,  to 
whom  he  at  once  replied,  that  so  far  as  he  could  see  election  did  a 
sinner  no  good  unless  his  disabilities  were  removed. 

For  some  years  after  the  period  of  reconstruction  in  i867-'68  the 
government  of  the  State,  in  all  its  departments,  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Northern  camp-followers  and  spoilsmen,  commonly  called  "car- 
pet-baggers,^' together  with  a  handful  of  native  white  allies,  of  whom 
a  few  were  honest  men  swayed  by  old  Whig  and  Union  prejudices,  but 
the  majority,  known  in  those  days  as  "scalawags,"  were  men  without 
political  convictions  or  principles,  mere  time-servers,  greedy  for  office 
and  filth}-  lucre.  The  ladder  upon  which  this  motley  band  of  political 
marauders  climbed  to  place  and  power  was  the  hundred  thousand  votes 
of  the  newly  enfranchised  Africans.  These  were  simply  a  body  of 
grown  up  children,  not  naturally  bad-hearted  nor  evil-disposed,  but 
completely  dazed  by  their  situation  and  surroundings,  densely  ignorant 
in  every  respect  and  especially  in  regard  to  the  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties of  citizenship. 

The  decisive  contest  for  the  overthrow  of  the  aliens  and  their 
allies,  and  the  restoration  of  the  State  to  the  control  of  the  intelligent 
and  substantial  classes  of  her  people,  was  made  in  the  stirring  cam- 
paign of  1876.  Then  it  was  that  Vance,  hitherto  hampered  by  political 
disabilities,  was  called  to  the  front  as  the  leader.  It  was  a  contest 
which  had  to  be  won  first  on  the  hustings  and  then  at  the  polls.  Judge 
Settle,  the  champion  of  the  adverse  party,  was  a  foeman  worthy  of  any 
man's  steel  and  more  nearly  a  match  for  Vance  than  perhaps  any  other 
opponent  who  could  have  been  selected.  The  result  is  well  known. 
After  probably  the  most  brilliant  canvass  in  the  annals  of  the  State, 
Vance   overthrew  his  adversary  at  the  polls  and  was   triumphantly 


198  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

chosen  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  the  first  one  of  his  party  after  the 
civil  war. 

Before  the  people  as  a  hustings  orator,  Vance  was  magnificent  and 
unrivalled.  This  largely  arose  from  the  fact  that  he  was  himself 
really  in  every  fibre  of  his  nature  one  of  the  common  people.  Reared 
among  them,  associating  with  them  freely  from  boyhood,  he  imbibed 
their  simple  tastes,  adopted  their  imstilted  manners,  learned  to  sym- 
pathize with  their  views  and  to  look  at  men  and  things,  events  and 
measures,  through  their  spectacles.  With  his  bright  genius  and  quick 
perception,  he  could  see  further  and  more  clearly,  but  he  saw  every- 
thing from  the  standpoint  and  through  the  predilections  and  prejudices 
of  the  common  man.  "When  mingling  with  the  people,  his  cordial 
mianners  and  unfailing  bonhomie  were  no  studied  arts  of  the  dema- 
gogue, but  the  spontaneous  outflow  of  his  genuine  sympathies.  The 
result  was  that  the  common  people  came  to  feel  instinctively  that  he 
was  one  of  them  and  one  with  them  ;  that  in  him  they  had  a  friend 
and  champion  who  could  always  be  counted  upon  ;  so  that  it  ma}'  be 
truthfully  said  that  of  all  the  great  and  justly  venerated  citizens  in  our 
State's  history,  "  our  Zeb,"  as  he  was  fondly  called,  was  the  most  pop- 
ular and  beloved  by  all  classes  of  North  Carolinians. 

In  every  gathering  of  men  on  whatever  occasion,  in  public  or  pri- 
vate, at  political  meetings,  at  the  courts,  with  the  lawyers,  on  the 
railroad  trains,  everywhere  and  among  all  sorts  of  people,  the  arrival 
of  Vance  caused  every  face  to  beam  with  satisfaction  and  glad  antici- 
pations of  increased  enjoyment,  wit,  wisdom  and  hilarity,  and  a  good 
time  generally. 

In  his  speeches,  especially  in  political  discussions  before  a  miscel- 
laneous audience,  probably  no  man  ever  excelled  him  in  clearness  of 
statement,  aptness  of  illustration,  vivacity  of  style,  naturalness  of 
manner,  quickness  of  repartee,  humorous  hits,  side-splitting  anecdotes 
and  all  those  rare  gifts  which  enable  a  speaker  to  command  the  unflag- 
ging attention  of  his  hearers  as  long  as  he  chooses.  Thousands  of 
living  men  all  over  North  Carolina  have  witnessed  his  wonderful 
powers.  I  remember  hearing  him  speak  at  Newton,  in  Catawba 
county,  in  October,  1888,  to  about  two  thousand  of  the  yeomanry  of 
that  section.  It  was  near  the  close  of  the  Presidential  campaign  and 
Vance  was  quite  worn  down  with  travel  and  much  speaking  during  the 
canvass  ;  and  as  the  speaking  that  day  was  outdoors  in  the  courtyard 
where  few  seats  were  to  be  had,  most  of  his  audience  v/cre  obliged  to 
remain  standing.  And  yet  he  talked  to  them  on  the  tariff  question, 
usually  considered  so  dry  and  abstruse,  for  nearly  two  hours  and  a 
half,  brought  all  the  phases  of  the  subject  within  the  comprehension 
of  the  humblest  understanding,  while  scarcely  a  man  moved  out  of  his 
tracks  except  to  press  closer  to  the  speaker,  all  being  fascinated  and 
spell-bound  by  the  wizard-like  skill  with  which  he  amused  while  he 
instructed  them.     His  speech  was  a  wonderful  specimen  of  pure  didac- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  ^99 

tics  made  as  entertaining  as  a  comedy,  and  ended  amid  cries  of  "  go 
onlgo  on  "-from  all  over  his  audience.  I  said  to  myself  then: 
"  There's  no  other  American  could  have  made  that  speech." 

From  his  entry  into  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  m  1879,  Vance 
^vas  a  prominent  figure  there.  Diligent  in  mastering  the  great  ques- 
tions of  public  policy  which  from  time  to  time  came  up  for  decision, 
he  was  one  of  those  who  could  always  command  a  hearing  because  he 
alwavs  had  something  to  say  and  knew  how  to  say  it  m  a  forcible  and 
entertaining  style.  By  his  geniality  of  temper  and  whole-sou  ed  kind- 
l^nL  in  social  intercourse,  he  won  the  hearts  of  Senators  of  all  sections 
and  parties.  Many  of  those  who  differed  from  him  mos  widely  in 
politlal  views  and  party  affiliations  were  his  most  devoted  friends  and 
admirers,  and  after  his  death  his  most  eloquent  eulogists. 

Vance  was  a  statesman  in  his  grasp  of  public  questions,  his   intel- 
lectual power,  his  learning,  and  his  deep  insight  into  the  tendencies 
and  ultimate  results  of  political  measures.     He  distinguished  himself 
particularly  in  the  Senate  in  the  debates  upon   the  tariff  and  the  cur- 
rency     His  course  on  these  and  on  all  other  questions  was  invariably 
shaped  by  that  which  was  the  guiding  star  of  his  entire  life-devotion 
o  what  seemed  to  him  for  the  best  interest  and  true  welfare  of  the 
masses  of  the  people.     However  one  may  differ  from  him  in  opinion 
concerni  ig  the  derails  of  measures  and  policies,  or  may  doubt  the  wis- 
dom of  hif  course  in  certain  critical  Junctures  of  our  recent  politica 
history,  no  fair  man  will  deny  that  his  heart  was  always  true  to  what 
he  deemed  right,  that  his  steady  aim  was  to  help  those  who  needed 
help,  and  that  he  was  an  incorruptible  public  servant,  and  a  genuine 

tribune  of  the  people. 

Nothing  in  the  history  of  North  Carolina  has  been  more  dramatic 
and  touching  than  the  manner  in  which  all  classes  of  the  people,  men, 
"men  and  children  turned  out  and  lined  the  railway  along  the  whole 
route  from  Raleigh  to  Asheville  and  all  through  the  night  around  their 
bonfires,  to  view  with  tearful  eyes  his  funeral  cortege  as  it  passed  bear- 
ing his  honored  remains  to  their  last  resting-place  amid  his  dear  native 

"°Tht  Grecian  sage  said:  "  Call  no  man  happy  'til  he  is  dead^"  But 
surely  we  may  call  him  happy  whose  dying  pillow  was  softened  by  the 
r^emory  of  a  life  spent  in  the  fathful  service  of  his  fellowmen,  whose 
death-gloom  was  lighted  by  the  Christian's  hope,  and  who  was  borne 
to  the  tomb  amid  the  tears  of  all  his  countrymen,  saying  with  one 
voice:  "  Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man  fallen  this 
day  in  Israel?  " 

[From  Alfred  Moore  Waddell.] 
The  death  of  Zebulon   B.   Vance  closed  the  career  of  the  most 
beloved  and  one  of  the  ablest  of  North  Carolinians.     It  is,  beyond 
question   a  fact  that  no  one  in  the  whole  history  of  the  State  was  ever  so 


200  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

dear  to  the  hearts  of  its  people  as  he;  that  there  was  no  one  whom  they 
so  delighted  to  honor  or  in  whom  they  had  so  absolute  and  abiding  con- 
fidence. His  popularity  was  phenomenal,  and  it  was  justified  by  his 
public  services  and  by  his  endowments.  Heredity  and  environment, 
as  in  every  case,  helped  to  make  hina  what  he  was,  but  cannot  be  credited 
with  all  that  he  accomplished.  He  would  have  been  a  great  man  any- 
where in  this  country,  and  a  greater  man,  perhaps,  so  far  as  national 
reputation  is  to  be  considered,  if  he  had  lived  out  of  North  Carolina,  from 
which  State,  for  some  reason  just  or  unjust,  the  country  has  not  seemed 
to  expect  great  things  or  great  men.  The  circumstances  attending  his 
first  entrance  into  public  life,  and  the  earlier  part  of  his  career,  were 
favorable  for  the  display  of  certain  qualities  which  he  possessed  in  an 
eminent  degree,  and  he  grew  steadily  afterwards.  Those  circum- 
stances were  to  be  found  in  the  locality  in  which,  and  the  people 
among  whom,  he  lived,  and  in  the  condition  of  the  country  and  the 
state  of  public  feeling  at  that  time. 

It  was  during  the  restless  period  immediately  before  the  war  be- 
tween the  States.  He  was,  in  the  party  nomenclature  of  that  time,  a 
Whig  and  enthusiastically  devoted  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
Having  already  been  a  member  of  the  .Legislature  from  his  native 
county,  he  became  a  candidate  for  Congress  from  the  mountain  dis- 
trict, which  was  supposed  to  be  hopelessly  against  him,  and  he  so 
astonished  and  delighted  the  people  by  his  varied  powers  as  a  "  stvimp  " 
speaker  that  they  elected  him — and  from  that  time  he  became  their 
political  idol,  as  he  afterwards  became  the  recognized  leader  of  all  the 
people  of  the  State.  Because  of  his  exuberance  of  animal  spirits,  his 
unrivalled  wit,  his  irresistible  power  of  good-natured  ridicule,  his  in- 
exhaustible resources  as  a  story-teller  and  illustrator  of  argument  by 
apposite  anecdotes,  and,  best  of  all,  because  of  his  virile  common  sense, 
he  always  won  the  hearts  and  swa3'ed  the  judgments  of  the  people. 

Elevated  to  the  office  of  Governor  of  the  State  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-two,  after  the  war  had  begun,  he  at  once  arose  to  the  dignity  of 
the  position,  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  its  duties  with  a  full 
comprehension  of  all  its  responsibilities.  That  he  discharged  them 
with  marked  ability  and  with  supreme  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  North 
Carolina  and  the  Confederacy  is  attested  by  the  title  given  him — the 
great  War-Governor  of  North  Carolina.  Again  elected  to  the  govern- 
orship after  the  war  was  over — and  after  a  magnificent  canvass  of  the 
State  which  demonstrated  his  very  great  ability  as  a  debater  and  popu- 
lar orator,  he  was  promoted  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  vStates 
where  he  fully  sustained  his  reputation,  and  won  the  respect  and  affec- 
tion of  his  associates  as  a  statesman  of  large  views,  varied  learning,  and 
incorrupti1)ly  integrity — as  a  patriot  who  earnestly  strove  to  promote 
the  honor  of  his  country  and  the  welfare  of  its  people,  and  as  a  man 
whose  genial  and  generous  nature  attracted  like  a  magnet  all  who  came 
within  the  sphere  of  his  influence.  So  much  as  an  epitome  of  his 
public  life. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  20I 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the  locality  in  which,  and  the 
people  among  whom,  he  lived  as  influential  in  shaping  his  career. 
Born  and  reared  amid  the  loftiest  mountain  ranges  (except  the  Rocky 
mountains)  on  this  continent,  his  physical  frame  partook  of  their  rug- 
gedness  and  strength  ;  but  as  in  their  recesses  soft  vales  and  tinkling 
streams  and  beautiful  landscapes  abound,  so  in  the  depths  of  his  intel- 
lectual and  moral  nature  there  was  hidden  a  wealth  of  poetry,  and 
sentiment,  and  human  sympathy,  of  which  those  who  saw  only  the 
outer  man  never  dreamed.  No  musical  instrument  ever  responded 
more  promptly  to  the  touch  of  a  skilled  hand  than  did  he  to  the  utter- 
ance of  a  lofty  or  noble  sentiment,  or  the  recital  of  a  pathetic  incident, 
and  there  were  often  in  his  speeches  and  essays  passages  of  thrilling 
eloquence  and  poetic  beauty,  which  could  only  have  come  from  a  head 
and  heart  attuned  to  harmony  with  such  thoughts  and  feelings.  Yet 
a  more  unpretending  man  never  lived,  and  this  was  one  of  the  secrets 
of  his  strong  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people.  To  them  he  was 
always  "  Zeb  "  Vance,  whether  in  his  familiar  intercourse  with  them, 
or  in  the  Governor's  mansion  or  the  Senate  chamber.  He  sincerely 
loved  his  State  and  people,  and  they  knew  it,  and  loved  him  in  return. 
But,  more  than  this,  they  knew  that  he  was  honest  and  faithful  and 
courageous — that  he  had  decided  convictions  on  public  questions  and 
was  as  fearless  as  he  was  powerful  in  expressing  them.  Therefore,  in 
every  crisis  which  confronted  them,  they  turned  to  him  for  counsel 
and  leadership  with  a  confidence  which  was  inspiring,  and  the}'  were 
never  disappointed  in  the  result.  There  have  been  many  men  in  the 
State  whom  the  people  honored  and  respected  and  elevated  to  posi- 
tions of  trust,  but  never  one  so  close  to  their  hearts  as  he. 

Could  this  have  been  unless  he  possessed  verj'  rare  gifts  and  quali- 
ties ?  And  especially  when  the  characteristics  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  lived  are  considered  ?  They  are  not  given  to  hero-worship  ; 
they  are  an  exceedingly  conservative  people,  and,  though  like  others, 
sometimes  misled,  are  apt  to  recover  and  keep  to  the  old  paths.  They 
are  slow  perhaps  in  doing  so,  as  they  are  in  many  other  respects,  but 
they  are  quite  sure.  They  never,  however,  changed  toward  Vance. 
From  the  time  of  his  first  election  as  Governor,  in  1862,  to  the  day 
when  he  was  buried  beneath  the  shadows  of  his  native  mountains, 
their  love,  and  admiration,  and  confidence  not  only  remained  steadfast, 
but  grew  and  strengthened  continuously. 

Again  the  question  presents  itself  :  Why  ?  The  answer  may  be 
found  in  the  character  and  genius  of  the  man,  and  in  his  services  to 
the  State  and  people.  In  this  brief  paper  it  is  not  proposed  to  discuss 
his  services,  but  only  to  indicate  some  of  the  characteristics  which 
secured  for  him  such  unparalleled  popularity. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  he  would  have  been  a  great  man  any- 
where in  this  country,  and  the  limitation  "  in  this  country  "  was  used 
because  greatness  here,  except  in  some  special  art  or  science,  is  largely 


202  I,IFE   OF  VANCE. 

dependent  upon  public  opinion.  He  could  never  have  achieved  great- 
ness as  a  courtier,  for  every  instinct  of  his  nature  would  have  rebelled 
against  the  process.  He  was  too  sturdy  and  independent,  too  manly 
and  self-respecting  to  bend  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee  to  any 
earthly  power  ;  but  the  public  opinion  in  any  State  of  this  Union  in 
which  he  had  chosen  to  make  his  home  would  have  assured  to  him  a 
position  of  eminence.  His  own  State  conferred  upon  him,  during  a 
critical  period,  the  highest  honors  within  her  gift,  and  afterwards  sent 
him  to  represent  her  in  the  national  Senate — to  represent  her  and  not 
merely  to  be  called  a  Senator— and  he  always  proved  equal  to  every 
position  which  he  held.  As  Governor,  his  executive  ability  -was  con- 
spicuous. His  messages  and  other  writings  were  characterized  by  the 
practical  common  sense  which  he  always  applied  to  public  affairs,  and 
sometimes,  during  the  war  period,  glowed  with  genuine  eloquence. 
Up  to  that  time  he  had  not  been  a  close  student  of  books,  especially  of 
such  as  constitute  what  is  called  polite  literature  ;  but  afterwards  he 
applied  himself  quite  diligently  to  them,  and  the  effect  appeared  in  the 
more  polished  style  of  his  speeches  and  writing.  This  first  manifested 
itself  about  the  time  he  prepared  his  striking  lecture  on  "The  Scattered 
Nation.  "  But  his  culture  had  nothing  to  do  with  his  popularity,  ex- 
cept that  it  increased  the  respect  and  esteem  of  educated  people  toward 
him.  It  was  the  combination  of  qualities  which  generally  goes  by  the 
name  of  personal  magnetism  that  constituted  the  basis  of  it,  and  this 
was  supplemented  by  varied  powers  which  could  not  fail  to  impress 
and  attract  others. 

So  exuberent  was  his  humor  that  in  his  earlier  career  many  per- 
sons who,  on  a  slight  acquaintance  onl}-,  saw  that  side  of  him,  thought 
he  was  a  mere  jester  who  possessed  a  lively  mind  and  an  inexhatistible 
fund  of  anecdotes,  but  nothing  more.  It  is  true  that  he  indulged  this 
humorous-story  telling  propensity  in  his  public  speeches,  but,  as  he 
said  to  the  writer  of  these  pages  on  one  occasion,  he  never  told  a  funny 
anecdote  in  a  speech  except  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  an  argu- 
ment which  he  wished  to  impress  upon  his  hearers  ;  and  experience 
has  long  since  proved  that  to  be  the  most  effective  method  of  accom- 
plishing such  a  purpose. 

Associated  with  this  abnormally  developed  sense  of  humor  there  was 
a  ready  wit,  which,  though  keen-edged  as  a  scimitar,  was  so  tempered 
by  the  kindly  spirit  of  the  man  that  no  soreness  ever  followed  its 
thrust.  His  big  heart  was  full  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness  but,  as 
is  almost  always  true  of  such  a  nature,  it  was  as  full  of  courage  as  that 
of  a  Nemean  lion.  The  people  love  such  a  man,  and  when  he  exhibits 
these  qualities  in  the  protection  of  their  interests  and  the  advancement 
of  their  welfare  they  are  not  slow  to  make  due  acknowledgment  of  it. 

But  they  saw  much  more  in  him.  They  felt  his  power  as  an 
orator  ;  they  regarded  him,  as  "  Sunset"  Cox  pronounced  him  to  be, 
the  greatest  "  stump  speaker  "  in  America  ;  they   were  proud  of  him 


LIFE    OF   VANCK.  203 

as  their  Senator  ;  but  more  than  all  they  loved  him  as  their  true  friend 
who  sympathized  with  them,  not  as  is  too  often  the  case,  in  words 
only  and  with  selfish  motives,  but  in  his  heart  and  with  an  honest 
desire  to  promote  the  common  weal,  and  to  discharge  his  whole  duty 
to  them  loyally  and  to  the  fullest  extent  of  his  great  ability.  He 
believed  in  the  people  and  in  their  capacity  for  self  government,  and 
they  believed  in  him  as  the  truest  and  best  representative  and  expon- 
ent of  their  ideas  and  aspirations.  No  worthy  citizen  ever  doubted 
the  existence  of  this  mutual  trust  and  confidence,  and  therefore 
Zebulon  B.  Vance  occupied  a  place  separate  and  apart  from  all  others 
in  public  estimation  and  stands  alone  in  the  history  of  North  Carolina. 


204  -  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AS  GOVERNOR  AFTER  THE  WAR BY  DR.  CHAS.   D.    m'IVER, 

PRESIDENT  STATE  NORMAL  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COLLEGE. 

As  Successful  in  Peace  as  in  War — The  Friend  of  Education — Extract 
from  Inaugural  Address — Favors  Normal  Schools  for  Teachers  at 
the  University  and  Elsewhere  as  a  Necessity  for  Public  Schools — 
Provided  for  by  State  Constitution — Normal  School  for  Colored 
Teachers  Recommended — The  First  Official  Utterance  for  Educa- 
tion and  Which  Resulted  in  Establishing  Summer  Normal  Schools 
and  Institutes  at  the  University  and  the  State  Normal  and  Indus- 
trial School — Extract  from  Message  to  Legislature  in  1879 — First 
Official  Recommendation  to  Admit  Female  Teachers  to  Normal 
Schools — Refused  Presidency  of  University — His  Reasons — Still 
Pleads  for  Education  in  the  U.  S.  Senate. 

¥ANCE  was  inaugurated  Governor  of  the  State  for  the 
third  time  in  January,  1877.  His  other  terms  had 
been  begun  and  ended  amid  the  tumultuous  scenes  of  civil 
war,  but  peace  had  now  resumed  its  sway,  though  desola- 
tion was  seen  on  every  hand.  Having  proved  himself  equal 
to  all  the  emergencies  incident  to  a  state  of  war,  he  was 
now  called  upon  to  administer  the  arts  of  peace  for  the  re- 
cuperation of  his  State  and  people.  Although  his  field  of 
labor  was  widely  different  now,  and  the  duties  before  him 
quite  in  contrast  with  such  as  efigaged  his  attention  during 
his  two  former  terms,  yet  great  as  his  reputation  was  as 
a  brilliant  and  efficient  war  Governor,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  he  proved  himself  equally  wise,  industrious  and  patri- 
otic in  the  performance  of  his  public  duties  during  his 
third  term  in  the  executive  chair — notably  in  the  new  and 
quickening  impulse  he  gave  to  the  cause  of  education. 

There  are  few  well-informed  citizens  of  North  Carolina 
who  do  not  regard  the  statesmanship  of  Vance  as  the 
most  many-sided  of  all  the  examples  of  statesmanship  in 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  205 

her  history.  His  brilliant  talents  and  versatile  g^enins  make 
him  easily  the  first  in  rank  among  the  political  leaders  pro- 
duced during  a  century  of  the  life  of  a  State  that  has  reason 
to  be  proud  of  the  statesmen  she  has  given  to  the  world. 

Coming  into  manhood  just  in  time  to  enter  the  storm 
brought  on  by  secession  and  the  civil  war,  becoming  at 
once  his  State's  chief  actor  in  the  great  drama  of  that  period 
remaining,  through  the  fierce  struggles  immediately  follow- 
ing the  civil  war  up  to  the  day  of  his  death,  the  most  intrepid 
and  best  beloved  political  leader  of  his  day,  it  is  but  natural 
that  his  record  as  North  Carolina's  war  Governor  and  his 
pre-eminent  success  as  a  political  leader  should  eclipse  that 
side  of  his  statesmanship  relating  to  the  arts  of  peace  and 
the  education  of  his  people.  Yet  I  believe  that,  broadly 
speaking,  the  education  of  the  people  was  the  greatest  and 
most  permanent  concern  of  this  great  statesman,  who, 
whether  calling  himself  Whig,  Union  man.  Secessionist, 
Conservative,  or  Democrat,  always  based  his  political  phil- 
osophy on  the  truth  that  "all  governments  derive  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,"  and  that  this  is 
"a  go\-ernment  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people."  These  two  maxims,  which  might  be  regarded 
respectively  as  the  golden  texts  of  the  political  doctrine  of 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  when  adopted 
by  any  intelligent  man,  force  him  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
most  important  civil  institution  in  the  State  is  a  public 
school.  No  man  can  really  believe  in  a  Republican  form 
of  government  who  does  not  base  his  political  philosophy 
upon  the  intelligence  and  right  training  of  all  the  people. 
Nor  do  I  believe  it  possible  for  any  man  who  does  not,  in 
the  bottom  of  his  heart,  believe  in  universal  intelligence  as 
the  supreme  need  of  a  prosperous,  free  State,  to  hold  per- 
manently the  first  place  in  the  affections  of  the  people. 
-.  To  show  how  thoroughly  Vance  believed  in  this  doctrine, 
^,,1  might  make  many  quotations  from  his   various   public 


2o6  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

utterances,  but  one  will  suffice.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
his  message  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1877: 

In  regard  to  the  great  subject  of  education,  I  earnestly  desire  to 
engage  your  attention  in  behalf  of  the  accompanying  "  Memorial  of 
the  Central  North  Carolina  Teachers'  Association,"  which  is  herewith 
transmitted.  Perhaps  the  most  effective  action  which  your  honorable 
body  could  take  to  promote  the  cause  of  public  education  would  be 
the  establishing  of  a  school  of  normal  instruction  at  the  University 
for  the  exclusive  education  of  teachers.  This  would  be  only  a  com- 
pliance with  the  plain  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  and  would  be  a 
long  step  in  the  direction  of  connecting  the  University  with  the  common 
school  system  as  the  head  and  guide  thereof,  which  is  its  natural  posi- 
tion. It  is  impossible  to  have  an  effective  public  school  system  with- 
out providing  for  the  training  of  teachers.  The  blind  cannot  lead  the 
.  blind.     Mere  literary  attainments  are  not  sufficient  to  make  J^  pos- 

sessor a  successful  instructor.  There  must  be  added  ability  to  influence 
^^  the  young  and  to  communicate  knowledge.     There  must  be  a  mastery 

of  the  best  modes  of  conducting  schools,  and  of  bringing  out  the  IqJ^t 
possibilities,  intellectual  and  moral,  of  the  pupil's  nature.  In  some 
rare  cases  these  qualities  are  inborn,  but  generally  it  is  of  vast  advan- 
tage to  teachers  to  be  trained  by  those  who  have  studied  and  mastered 
the  methods  which  have  been  found  by  experience  to  be  the  most 
successful  in  dispelling  ignorance  and  inculcating  knowledge.  The 
schools  in  which  this  training  is  conducted,  called  normal  colleges,  or 
normal  schools,  have  been  found  by  experience  to  be  the  most  efl&cient 
agents  in  raising  up  a  body  of  teachers  who  infuse  new  life  and  vigor 
into  the  public  schools.  There  is  urgent  need  for  one,  at  least,  in 
North  Carolina. 

The  Constitution  of  the  State,  in  Section  4,  Article  IX,  requires  the 
General  Assembly,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  establish  and  maintain, 
in  connection  with  the  University,  a  department  of  Normal  Instruc- 
tion. I  respectfully  submit  that  it  is  now  practicable  to  make  a  be- 
ginning in  carrying  out  this  provision  of  the  Constitution.  There 
cannot  possibly  be  found  in  this  State  competent  teachers  for  our 
public  schools.  The  records  of  the  county  examiners  show  that  most 
of  the  applicants  for  the  post  of  imparting  knowledge  to  others,  are 
themselves  deficient  in  the  simplest  elements  of  spelling,  reading, 
writing  and  arithmetic.  The  University  is  now  in  successful  opera- 
tion. If  the  General  Assembly  should  appropriate  an  amount 
sufficient  to  establish  one  professorship  for  the  purpose  of  instructing 
in  the  theory  and  art  of  teaching,  I  am  persuaced  the  best  results 
would  follow. 

A  school  of  similar  character  should  be  establ.shed  for  the  educa- 
tion of  colored  teachers,  the  want  of  which  is  more  deeply  felt  by  the 
black  race  even  than  the  white.     In  addition  to  the  fact  that  it  is  our 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  207 

plain  duty  to  make  no  discrimination  in  the  matter  of  public  educa- 
tion, I  cannot  too  strongly  urge  upon  you  the  importance  of  the 
consideration  that  whatever  of  education  we  may  be  able  to  give  the 
children  of  the  vState,  should  be  imparted  under  our  own  auspices,  and 
with  a  thorough  North  Carolina  spirit.  Many  philosophical  reasons 
can  be  given  in  support  of  this  proposition.  I  am  conscious  of  few 
things  more  dangerous  than  for  a  State  to  suffer  the  education  of  an 
entire  class  of  its  citizens  to  drift  into  the  hands  of  strangers,  most  of 
whom  are  not  attached  to  our  institutions,  if  not  positively  unfriendly 
to  them. 

There  are  in  the  State  several  very  respectable  institutions  for  the 
education  of  black  people,  and  a  small  endowment  to  one  of  them 
would  enable  it  to  attach  a  normal  school  sufficient  to  answer  the 
present  needs  of  our  black  citizens.  Their  desire  for  education  is  an 
extremely  creditable  one,  and  should  be  gratified  as  far  as  our  means 
will  permit.  In  short,  I  regard  it  as  an  unmistakable  policy  to  imbue 
these  black  people  with  a  hearty  North  Carolina  feeling,  and  make 
them  cease  to  look  abroad  for  the  aids  to  their  progress  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  protection  of  their  rights  as  they  have  been  taught  to  do, 
and  teach  them  to  look  to  their  State  instead  ;  to  convince  them  that 
their  welfare  is  indissolubly  linked  with  ours. 

This  is  his  first  official  utterance  on  the  subject  of  edu- 
cation after  the  great  civil  strife.  The  negro  race  had 
been  free  for  a  decade.  While  the  majority  of  that  race 
loved  and  admired  him  then,  and  revere  his  memory  to 
this  day,  yet  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  practically  their 
solid  vote  had  been  cast  against  him  in  the  great  political  con- 
test fought  out  a  few  months  before.  It  could  surprise  no  one 
who  knew  the  author,  yet  it  is  pleasant  to  note  the  breadth 
of  view,  the  tact  in  statement,  and  the  kindly  sympathy, 
which  appear  in  that  part  of  his  message  relating  to  the 
education  of  the  negro  race. 

This  message  also  shows  his  keen  appreciation  of  the 
fact  that  the  most  important  part  of  a  school  is  not  the 
house,  the  text  book  or  even  the  length  of  the  school  term, 
but  the  teacher.  It  was  Garfield  who  said  that  the  best 
school  he  ever  attended  was  when  he  sat  on  one  end  of  a 
log  with  Mark  Hopkins  on  the  other. 

Thus  the  work  for  the  professional  training  of  the 
teacher  by  the  State,  which  has  since  grown  into  summer 


2o8  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

normal  schools,  institutes,  a  department  of  pedagogics  at 
the  University,  and  the  State  Normal  and  Industrial  Col- 
lege for  Women,  began  under  his  administration  and  with 
his  earnest  personal  and  official  support. 

It  is  not  generally  known,  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  soon  after 
the  war,  a  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  who, 
though  a  political  opponent,  was  a  personal  friend  of 
Vance,  asked  him  to  canvass  the  State  for  public  educa- 
tion. I  am  informed  that  this  proposition  was  considered 
seriously,  but  there  was  no  fund  to  pay  his  expenses  and 
^  the  salary  which  could  be  offerded  was  very  small.    Vance's 

means  at  that  time  were  too  limited  to  allow  him  to  under- 
take the  work,  though  he  expressed  the  greatest  interest  in 
it,  and  a  desire  to  do  such  service  for  his  State. 

I  incorporate  here  an  interesting  extract  from  Vance's 
message  to  the  Legislature  of  1879,  just  before  his  election 
to  the  United  States  Senate : 

I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  state  that  an  iucreased  interest  is  mani- 
fested among  all  classes  in  popular  education.  This,  I  believe,  is  due 
to  the  action  of  the  last  Legislature  in  appropriating  money  for  the 
establishment  of  normal  schools.  In  accordance  with  the  law,  the 
Board  of  Education  established  the  one  for  the  whites  at  the  Univer- 
sity, and  decided  to  locate  one  for  the  blacks  at  Fayetteville,  in  a 
building  tendered  by  the  colored  people  of  that  place.  They  were 
established  on  somewhat  different  systems,  regard  being  had  to  the 
circumstances  of  each  race.  It  was  considered  that  the  white  race 
already  had  many  educated  teachers  who  simply  needed  instruction  on 
the  art  of  teaching,  whilst  the  blacks  needed  teachers  instructed  in 
both  the  elements  of  learning  and  the  art  of  teaching.  For  the  one, 
therefore,  a  six  weeks'  school  was  held  at  Chapel  Hill  during  the  sum- 
mer vacations,  and  for  the  other,  a  permanent  school  was  established 
in  Fayetteville.  Both  have  been  remarkably  successful.  At  the  first 
session  of  the  white  school  225  teachers  attended,  and  at  the  second 
one,  the  past  summer,  more  than  400  teachers  were  present,  represent- 
ing about  sixty  counties.  An  excellent  corps  of  instructors  was 
employed.  The  Univer3ity  gave  the  use  of  its  buildings,  its  libraries, 
laboratories  and  apparatus.  The  railroads  very  generously  gave  re- 
duced rates.  The  agent  of  the  Peabody  Fund  supplemented  the 
appropriation  with  a  handsome  donation,  and  every  dollar  that  could 
be  spared  was  used  to  equalize  the  benefits  of  the  State's  bounty  by 
paying  the  traveling  expenses  of  the  more  indigent.     Lectures  by  dis- 


LIFK    OF   VANCE.  209 

tingiiished  citizens  of  the  vState  on  popular  themes  were  delivered 
almost  daily  with  the  best  results.  The  undoubted  effect  of  the  whole 
was  to  arouse  an  enthusiastic  interest  in  behalf  of  popular  education 
among  a  large  portion  of  our  people,  and  to  excite  a  spirit  of  honest 
pride  in  their  noble  calling  among  all  the  teachers  present,  which  will, 
it  is  hoped,  do  much  good. 

The  accompanying  report  of  President  Battle  is  referred  to  for  par- 
ticulars. 

The  Colored  Normal  vSchool  at  Fa3'etteville  was  put  in  charge  of 
Mr.  Robert  Harris,  a  native  colored  man,  of  excellent  character  and 
capacity,  supervised  by  a  board  of  local  managers  selected  from  the 
best  business  citizens  of  the  town  v/ho  took  a  great  interest  in  its  wel- 
fare. It  has  been  managed  with  unexpected  success.  The  first  session 
opened  with  58  pupils,  about  40  of  whom  have  received  certificates  as 
teachers,  some  of  high  grade.  The  second  year  began  with  74  pupils 
and  is  now  in  progress.  The  same  donation  was  made  to  this  school 
by  the  Peabody  Fund  as  to  the  white  school,  and  the  same  scheme 
adopted  to  equalize  its  benefits.  The  report  of  Mr.  Harris,  to  which 
you  are  referred,  will  be  surprising,  as  I  am  sure  it  will  be  pleasing, 
to  all  who  desire  the  real  welfare  of  our  colored  citizens. 

I  sincerely  hope  the  appropi^iation  for  both  schools  may  be  re- 
newed, and  the  law  be  made  to  embrace  both  sexes.  For,  though 
females  have  attended  both  schools  by  permission,  yet  the  Board  of 
Education  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  expend  any  money  in  their  aid, 
which  was  a  little  ungallant  for  so  chivalrous  a  people  as  ours,  who 
are  so  well  aware  that  as  a  general  rule  our  female  teachers  are  better 
than  the  males.  The  excellently  worded  memorial  of  the  teachers 
themselves  which  accompanies  the  report  of  President  Battle,  is 
especially  commended  to  your  favor. 

This  message  breathes  the  same  spirit  of  interest  in 
every  class  of  people  in  the  State  which  characterized  his 
first  message,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  it  is  the  first  official 
recognition,  in  a  gubernatorial  message,  of  that  strange  and 
unwise  discrimination  against  women  in  the  educational 
investments  of  the  State.  It  is  surprising  that  he  should 
not  have  emphasized  the  matter  more  than  he  did,  and  as- 
tonishing that  his  suggestions  should  not  have  produced  a 
greater  immediate  effect. 

To  his  alma  mater,  the  State  University,  Vance  was  a 
most  loyal  son.  The  first  tim.e  that  I  saw  the  University  in 
1877,  I  heard  Vance's  address  on  the  life  and  public  ser- 
vices of  David  L.  Swain,  the  friend  of  his  boyhood  and 

15 


2IO  I^IFE   OF   VANCK. 

college  da}-s,  whose  memory  he  always  revered  with  filial 
affection. 

In  this  connection  it  shows  the  estimate  placed  upon 
Vance's  educational  power  and  spirit,  that,  when  the  Uni- 
versity was  revived  in  1875,  many  of  the  ablest  men  in  the 
State  desired  that  he  should  become  its  president,  thinking 
that  the  mantle  of  President  Swain  would  be  worn  worthily 
and  successfully  by  his  friend  and  pupil.  When  he  was 
asked  if  he  would  accept  the  presidency  of  the  University, 
he  dismissed  the  subject  by  saying,  "No,  say  to  my  friends 
that  it  would  kill  me  in  a  few  weeks  to  be  obliofed  to  be- 
have  as  is  required  of  a  college  president  in  order  to  furnish 
an  example  to  the  bo3^s. " 

But,  beneath  his  good-natured  humor,  which  never 
forsook  him  when  he  desired  to  dismiss  pleasantly  the  con- 
sideration of  a  subject,  there  were  probably  concealed  his 
real  reasons  for  not  accepting  so  responsible  a  position. 
With  the  eye  of  a  genuine  seer,  in  the  arena  of  politics  he 
saw  what  he  believed  to  be  his  greatest  field  of  usefulness, 
and,  judging  from  his  messages  to  the  Legislature,  he 
probably  discerned  also  the  dawn  of  that  day  when  educa- 
tional institutions  would  be  managed,  as  they  ought  to  be 
managed,  by  trained  and  experienced  educators. 

If  we  follow  him  to  the  United  States  Senate,  we  find 
him  still  a  champion  of  education.  Some  portions  of  his 
speech,  in  which  he  replied  to  Senator  Ingalls,  in  favor  of 
the  Blair  bill  to  promote  education,  are  characteristic  not 
only  of  his  watchful  care  of  his  people's  interests,  but  also 
of  his  unique  and  boundless  humor  and  of  his  ability  as  a 
debater.  No  questions  seemed  thoroughly  to  arouse  him  in 
that  great  forum  except  the  three  subjects  of  the  education 
of  the  [people,  our  financial  system,  and  Federal  taxa- 
tion. The  two  latter  subjects  naturally  engaged  the  greater 
portion  of  his  attention  as  a  Senator.  But,  with  a  country 
divided,  with  even  political  parties  divided,  with  expert 
students  of  finance  and  taxation  disagreed  and  hopeless  of 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  211 

agreement,  is  it  not  the  supreme  question  of  statesmanship 
that  the  people,  who  must  be  the  final  arbiters  of  these  great 
problems,  should  have  such  intellectual  training  as  will 
make  them  equal  to  the  conditions  of  their  day,  so  that  they 
may  meet  wisely  the  duties  and  privileges  of  citizenship? 
What  North  Carolinian  has  not  been  thrilled  by  the 
accounts  of  how  his  last  great  message  was  delivered  from 
the  United  States  Senate,  while  political  friend  and  foe 
surrounded  him  that  they  might  catch  the  words  which 
his  hand  was  almost  too  palsied  to  write  and  his  tongue 
almost  too  feeble  toto  utter?  Without  entering  into  the 
merits  of  the  cause  wnicli  he  advocated  in  that  speech,  his 
closing  words  may  be  applied  to  many  another  problem 
which  cannot  be  settled  save  by  the  intelligence  of  the 
mass  of  voters  in  this  country. 

"It  was  said  that  the  striug  of  the  bow  of  Ulysses  warned  him  of 
approaching  danger  by  singing  him  a^song  of  battle  and  of  strife.  Let 
me  say  to  those  conspirators  against  the  welfare  of  the  common  people, 
that  before  they  shall  finally  succeed  in  their  unhallowed  designs,  and 
drive  them  through  the  'valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,'  they  will  see 
many  a  field  of  political  battle,  and  hear  the  roar  of  much  political 
strife. 

"In  this  fair  land  the  thunderbolts  of  Jove  dwell  still  with  those 
whose  voice  is  as  the  voice  of  God,  and  the  bow  of  Ulysses  is  yet  in  the 
people's  hands,  and  its  quiverjs  filled  with  death-dealing  darts.  Its 
strings  will  yet  sing  many  a  song  of  battle  to  awaken  the  sleeping 
people,  and  upon  every  plain  and  in  every  valley  and  upon  every 
mountain  side,  from  shore  to  shore  of  our  inclosing  seas,  they  will 
spring  to  their  feet  at  the  calling  of  that  music,  with  a  light  of  conflict 
on  their  faces  and  the  resolve  of  victory  in  their  hearts." 

And  are  we  not  justified  in  believing  that  the  closing 
words  of  that  great  message,  "To  your  tents,  O  Israel!" 
were  accompanied  by  a  prayer  that  his  people  might  be 
wise  enough  to  fit  themselves  by  education  for  meeting 
the  responsibilities  and  emergencies  of  coming  conflicts. 


212  I,IFE   OF   VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

DEATH  OF  MOTHER  AND  WIFE. 

Death  of  His  Mother— Her  Characteristics— Death  of  His  Wife— Her 
Funeral  and  Burial. 

¥ERY  dark  shadows  fell  upon  the  pathway  of  Governor 
Vance  during  his  third  term  in  the  executive  office. 
His  aged  and  greatly  beloved  mother,  Mrs.  IMargaret  M. 
Vance,  died  on  the  4th, of  October,  1878,  and  his  devoted  and 
affectionate  wife  died  on  the  3d  day  of  November  following. 
Of  the  former,  a  contemporary  newspaper  said:  "She  was  in 
many  respects  an  extraordinary  woman,  and  considering  the 
influence  she  quietly  exercised  in  rearing  her  children,  de- 
serves well  to  be  honored  and  revered  in  memory  by  the 
people  of  the  State.  She  was  born  December  22,  1802,  and 
was  of  that  famous  Scotch-Irish  stock  which  did  so  much  to 
establish  the  liberties  of  North  Carolina  and  to  promote  its 
Christianity  and  civilization.  Her  father  was  the  late 
Zebulon  Baird,  a  Scotch  New  Jersey  settler,  wdio  was  among 
the  first  to  find  a  home  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  on  the  French 
Broad,  and  who  represented  Buncombe  county  for  many 
years  in  the  Legislature.  Her  mother  was  Hannah  Erwin, 
of  that  numerous  and  influential  family  of  Irish  descent 
still  claiming  Burke  county  as  their  tribal  home.  Among 
her  early  school-mates  were  the  late  Governor  Swain  of  our 
own  State  and  Governor  Perry  of  South  Carolina.  On  the 
2d  day  January,  1825,  she  was  married  to  Capt.  David 
Vance.  She  bore  him  eight  children — four  sons  and  four 
daughters.  The  latter  are  all  living  and  married;  of  the 
sons  only  two  survive,  Hon.  Robert  B.  Vance  and  Governor 
Zebulon  B.  Vance.  In  1844  her  husband  died,  leaving  seven 
children  to  Ije  reared  and  educated  and   an   estate   much 


MOTHER  OF  Z.  B.  VANCE. 


UFE   OF   VANCE.  213 

embarrassed  with  debt.  With  firmness  and  conrage  she 
met  the  heavy  responsibilities  thus  cast  upon  her.  She  was 
her  children's  best  teacher  in  morality,  in  worldly  business, 
and  in  uprightness  and  integrity.  A  constant  and  intelli- 
gent reader,  she  fostered  a  literary  taste  in  her  children 
and  early  inculcated  in  them  a  love  of  books.  Those  who 
have  heard  her  read  to  her  family  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  or 
Ivanhoe  would  be  at  no  loss  to  determine  where  her  dis- 
tinguished sons  obtained  their  humor  and  eloquence. 

"In  early  lifeshe  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but  after 
her  husband's  death,  finding  herself  cut  off  from  the  minis- 
trations of  that  church  by  the  location  of  her  home  in  the 
mountains,  she  joined  the  Methodist  Church,  for  whose 
traveling  ministers  her  house  had  long  been  a  hospitable 
home,  and  she  remained  in  that  church  until  her  death.  Not 
a  human  being  knew  her  but  sorrowed  at  her  death.  An 
odor  of  blessedness  pervaded  every  thought  of  her  when 
people  recalled  her  life,  and  many  Christians  thanked  God 
for  such  an  example  of  her  service,  while  all  hearts  thanked 
Him  that  such  a  mother  had  been  given  to  the  world." 

As  before  stated  Governor  Vance  was  called  upon  to 
follow  the  remains  of  his  wife  to  the  grave  within  less  than 
a  month  after  his  mother  was  buried.  The  death  of  Mrs. 
\'ance  was  announced  by  her  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Atkinson,  as 
follows: 

"It  is  my  painful  duty  to  announce  the  death  of  Mrs. 
Harriette  Newell  Espy  Vance,  the  wife  of  Hon.  Z.  B. 
Vance,  the  Governor  of  this  State.  Mrs.  Vance,  daughter 
of  the  late  Rev.  Thomas  Espy,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Salisbury,  was  born  in  that  town  July  nth,  1832. 
vShe  joined  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Morganton,  then  under 
the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  John  Wilson,  in  the  sixteenth 
year  of  her  age.  August  3d,  1853,  she  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  Zebulon  B.  Vance.  November  3d,  1878,  she  died 
in  the  city  of  Raleigh,  after  a  long  and  painful  illness, 
which  she  bore  with  the  most  exemplary  faith  and  patience, 


214  1,1^'E   OF  VANCE. 

sustained  by  the  hope  of  the  gospel,  and  sanctified  by  the 
spirit  of  grace.  There  was  no  lady  in  the  State  more  wide- 
ly known  or  more  highly  honored.  A  child  of  the  Cove- 
nant, she  early  learned  to  love  and  serve  the  Savior,  and  the 
light  of  heavenly  grace  kindled  in  her  young  heart,  continued 
to  burn  with  ever  increasing  radiance  to  the  close  of  her 
days.  Her  natural  disposition  was  marked  by  traits  sin- 
crularly  noble  and  generous.  She  was  characteristically 
warm  hearted,  sincere,  affectionate  and  courageous.  A 
person  of  stronger  affections,  firmer  convictions,  more  tena- 
cious purpose  and  more  uncompromising  principle  it  is  not 
easy  to  imagine.  These,  sanctified  by  heavenly  grace, 
rendered  her 

"  '  A  perfect  woman  nobly  planned, 
To  warn,  to  counsel  and  command.' 

"It  was  not  in  her  nature  to  hide  a  conviction  or  desert 
a  friend.  Of  every  relation  which  she  sustained  she  per- 
formed the  duties  conscientiously  and  in  the  fear  of  God. 
The  objects  of  her  mcst  fervent  affection  were  her  family, 
above  all  her  honored  consort,  her  native  State,  and  that 
church  to  which  she  w^as  attached  by  every  tie  of  nature 
and  of  grace.  Her  death  was  in  keeping  with  her  life. 
Her  light  went  out  on  earth  with  the  setting  sun  of  a 
lovely  Sabbath  evening,  to  be  relumed  in  a  brighter  world 
than  ours.  Her  end  was  calm,  serene,  painless  ;  soft  as  an 
infant's  slumber. 

"  '  We  thought  her  dying  when  she  slept, 
And  sleeping  when  she  died. ' 

"And  now  that  she  is  gone  she  has  not  left  behind  her 
on  this  sin-darkened  earth  a  purer  spirit  or  more  honored 
memory." 

[Farmer  and  Mechanic,  November  9th,  1S78.] 
At  the  Governor's  residence  in  the  city  of  Raleigh,  during 
the  glorious  sunset  hour  on  Sabbath  evening,  fell  asleep  m 
painless  translation  from  earth  and  its  sorrows,  Mrs.  Zebu- 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  215 

Ion  B.  Vance,  a  lady  known  and  esteemed  throughout  all 
the  State.  She  was  born  in  Salisbury,  July  ii,  1832,  a 
daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  Thomas  Espy,  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church,  to  w'hich  faith  she  united  herself  in  her  six- 
teenth year,  and  adhered  until  the  moment  of  her  death,  with 
all  the  conviction  of  a  courageous  and  devoted  mind.  For 
several  years  she  has  been  in  infirm  health  ;  and  during  the 
past  six  months  her  sufferings  were  great, — and  hopeless. 
Yet  the  end  came  as  a  surprise  to  many  of  her  friends  ;  a 
regret  to  all. 

On  Monday  evening,  the  casket,  beautifully  decorated 
with  floral  offerings  from  friends,  was  borne  to  a  special 
car— Maj.  IMcPheeters,  R.  H.  Battle,  Maj.  Tucker,  Col. 
Polk,  Judge  Smitl],  Maj.  Bagley,  H.  A.  Gudger  and  Capt. 
Stamps,  acting  as  pall-bearers. 

Accompanying  the  Governor  and  his  sons  Charles  and 
Thomas,  were  Rev.  Dr.  Atkinson,  Maj.  McPheeters,  Col. 
Polk,  ]\Iaj.  Tucker,  Mr.  Gudger,  Miss  Baird,  Miss  Lavine 
Haywood,  and  Misses  Placide  and  Rosabelle  Engelhard. 
Rev.  Dr.  Miller  and  Charlotte  friends  joined  the  cortege 
at  Salisbury,  wdiere  President  Wilson  awaited  it  with  a 
special  train  on  his  road. 

[Raleigh  News,  November  9th.] 

The  party  arrived  at  Asheville  at  2:30  p.  m.,  and  the 
corpse  was  immediately  taken  to  the  residence  of  Dr.  M. 
L.  Neilson,  the  brother-in-law  of  Gov.  Vance,  where  a  large 
number  of  sympathizing  friends  and  relations  were  soon 
assembled.  The  funeral  services  were  appointed  for  Wed- 
nesday morning  at  11  o'clock.  The  Methodist  church, 
which  is  the  largest  in  the  place,  was  kindly  tendered  for 
the  funeral  services  and  accepted  by  the  family.  The  pall- 
bearers were :  Col.  A.  T.  Davidson,  ]\Ir.  Albert  T.  Summey, 
Mr.  James  P.  Sawyer  and  Mr.  E.  M.  Clayton,  of  Asheville, 
Col.  L.  L.  Polk,  H.  A.  Gudger,  Maj.  R.  S.  Tucker  and  A. 
M.  McPheeters,  of  Raleigh,  who  accompanied  and  had  in 
charofc  the  remains  from  Raleigh. 


2l6  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

The  Federal  Court,  Jndge  Dick,  and  the  Superior  Court, 
Judge  Avery,  were  both  in  session,  but  adjourned  to  at- 
tend the  funeral.  All  the  stores  and  places  of  business 
were  closed  during  the  services.  A  very  large  congrega- 
tion assembled  and  both  the  church  and  the  yard  were 
densely  packed.  The  services  were  opened  with  prayer  by 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Atkinson,  who  was  the  pastor  of  Mrs. 
Vance  at  Raleigh.  Rev.  Dr.  A.  \V.  Miller  then  announced 
as  the  hymn  to  be  sung,  which  was  selected  for  the  occa- 
sion by  Mrs.  Vance, 

"  I  would  not  live  alvvay." 

He  then  announced  as  his  text  the  15th  verse  of  the  17th 
Psalm:  "As  for  me  I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness  : 
I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  -thy  likeness."  A 
more  powerful,  beautiful  and  eloquent  sermon  has  seldom, 
if  ever,  been  delivered  in  the  State.  It  would  be  in  vain 
to  attempt  to  give  any  just  report  of  the  tender  pathos  and 
surpassing  beauty  of  this  most  able  and  powerful  presenta- 
tion of  the  Christian's  hope  founded  on  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  as  compared  with  the  groundless  hope  of  those  who 
reject  the  Savior  and  of  the  inndel. 

After  the  sermon  the  remains  were  taken  to  the  ceme- 
tery of  the  Presbyterian  church,  where  they  were  deposited 
in  a  grave  adjoining  that  of  a  son  who  died  many  years 
ago.  Thus  was  laid  in  this  mountain  cemetery  all  that  re- 
mains of  one  so  ripe  to  enter  on  that  rest  that  remaineth 
for  good  people,  and  one  who  was  so  lov^ed  and  admired  by 
those  who  knew  her  best. 

On  the  beautiful  casket  was  a  large  silver  plate  bearing 
the  inscription  : 

Harriette  Espy  Vance. 

Born  July  nth,   1832. 
Died  November  3d,  1878. 

Governor  Vance,  his  three  sons,  and  the  party  of  friends 
accompanying  him,  returned  to  the  city  yesterday. 


MRS.  HARRIETT  ESPY  VANCE. 


LIFR   OF  VANCE.  217 

[From  tlie  North  Carolina  Presbyterian.] 
Her  character  was  marked  by   many  of  the   traits  con- 
spicuous in  her  father.     The  same  simple  unwavering  faith, 
the  same  single-minded  adherence  to  truth,  the  same  un- 
compromising steadfastness  of  principle. 

These  are  rare  characteristics.  They  imply  high  spirit, 
strength  and  courage.  Mrs.  Vance  had  all  these.  One 
who  knew  her  well  says  she  was  never  known  to  abandon 
a  principle  or  to  desert  a  friend.  She  was  a  whole-souled 
woman,  always  true  to  her  colors  and  afraid  of  doing  wrong. 
In  this  she  was  an  example  to  all,  and  an  example  besides 
in  the  true  femininity  that  guarded  these  strong  and  steady 
traits.  She  moved  in  our  high  places  quietly  as  became  a 
Southern  lady,  and  with  the  humility  and  unworldly  mind 
of  a  true  Christian.  In  her  home  she  was  queen — most 
loyal  wnfe  and  tenderest  mother ;  in  her  Church  she  was  as 
a  polished  corner-stone.  But  she  sought  no  popularity  ; 
she  shrank  from  publicity.  Yet  her  influence  was  con- 
trolling and  they  who  were  freest  to  deplore  what  they 
called  her  "  over  strictness  "  being  the  very  people  who 
most  needed  such  an  example  of  conscientious  performance 
of  duty,  were  often  foremost  in  their  desire  to  serve  her  and 
gain  her  esteem. 

We  shall  miss  our  Governor's  noble  wife.  Her  walk 
was  along  that  strait  and  narrow  way  which  leads  upv^^ard, 
and  as  she  went  her  eyes  were  fixed  on  things  above.  We 
need  such  women  in  our  high  places,  to  point  our  young 
girls,  to  add  salt  to  society,  and  to  keep  up  the  old  tradi- 
tions of  wifely  duty  and  constancy  of  devotion,  of  motherly 
love  and  patience,  and  of  abounding  faith  and  charity. 
Church  and  State  will  both  mourn  her  and  sympathize 
with  those  whose  loss  in  her  is  irreparable.  For  herself, 
we  need  shed  no  tears.     She, 

"  When  the  bridegroom,  with  his  feastful  friends, 

Passes  to  bliss  at  the  mid  hour  of  night, 

Hath  gained  her  entrance."  C.   P.  S. 


2l8  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XVL 

AS  UNITED  STATES  SENATOR. 

His  Several  Elections — His  failure  to  Get  His  Seat — Defeat  in  1872  by 
a  Combine,  Though  the  Party  Nominee — At  Last  Admitted — His 
Second  Marriage — His  Laborious  Efforts  in  Committee  and  in 
Debate — Surpasses  Expectation  by  His  Studious  Habits  and 
Dignified  Discussions,  Yet  Lively  and  Jocose — Frequently  Stirred 
Up  the  Senate — Always  H^d  Attention  from  Members  and  Packed 
Galleries — Was  Hero  of  the  Cloak  Rooms  and  the  Favorite  Every- 
where— Anecdotes  Told — Three  Characteristic  Speeches — The 
Solidity  of  the  South  and  Its  Causes — The  Negro  Question — His 
Last  and  Perhaps  Greatest  Effort — The  Free  Coinage  of  Silver — 
Last  Appearance  in  Charlotte — ^Great  Demonstration. 

'ANCE  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in 
1870  by  the  first  Democratic  Legislature  assembled 
after  the  war,  but  not  having  been  "pardoned"  for  the  dis- 
abilities imposed  by  the  fourteenth  amendment  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  was  refused'  admission, 
and  after  fruitless  efforts  to  have  his  disabilities  removed, 
he  resigned. 

He  was  the  nominee  of  his  party  for  the  same  office  in 
1872,  hie  disabilities  in  the  meantime  having  been  re- 
moved, but  was  defeated  by  a  union  of  the  Republicans 
and  some  bolting  Democrats.  He  was  again  nominated, 
and  was  elected  in  January,  1879,  ^^^^  took  his  seat  March 
18th  of  that  year,  and  by  successive  elections,  viz:  iu  1885 
and  1 89 1,  held  the  position  till  the  time  of  his  death. 

In  1880  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Florence  Steele  Martin, 
of  Kentucky,  a  lady  of  wealth,  attractive  presence  and 
manners,  and  high  intellectual  and  social  qualities.  She 
survives  her  distinguished  husband,  and,  with  her  only 
child,  a  son  by  her  first  marriage,  Mr.  J.  Harry  INIartin, 
and  his  family,  occupies  in  winter  the  Washington  home 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  219 

and  in  summer  Gombroon.  This  latter  place  is  an  ideal  re- 
treat in  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina,  eight  miles 
north  of  Black  IMountain  Station,  on  the  Western  North 
Carolina  Railroad.  The  house  is  of  modern  architecture, 
is  surrounded  by  a  dense  forest  and  lofty  peaks,  and  with 
vineyards,  orchards,  gardens,  out  houses,  spring  house, 
dairy,  etc.,  such  as  render  it  a  charming  and  most  pictur- 
esque summer  home.  The  location  was  selected  and  the 
improvements  erected  by  Senator  and  Mrs.  Vance. 

Vance's  career  in  the  Senate  was  altogether  different 
from  what  was  expected.  It  was  felt  and  predicted  that 
his  reputation  would  not  be  enhanced  by  his  senatoral  life. 
His  disposition  was  so  sportive  and  his  speeches  so  full  of  fun 
and  merriment  it  was  anticipated  that  either  he  would  call 
down  severe  criticisms  for  his  levity  in  that  august  body,  or 
else  that  by  trying  to  conform  to  its  gravity  and  decorum, 
the  vivacity  and  charm  would  disappear  from  his  speeches 
and  they  would  become  commonplace.  But  such  was  not 
the  case.  He  became  at  once  a  profound  student  of  the 
great  questions  of  the  day.  A  tireless  worker  in  commit- 
tees, he  found  time  also  to  keep  close  up  with  the  current 
business  of  the  Senate,  to  participate  in  its  running  debates 
and  at  times  to  prepare  and  deliver  speeches  that  were 
admitted  on  all  sides  to  take  rank  among  the  ablest,  most 
logical  and  statesmanlike  of  the  speeches  delivered  in  that 
body  during  his  time.  And  while  these  speeches  were 
erudite,  thoroughly  prepared,  scholarly,  and  methodical  in 
arrangment,  they  were  not  grave  to  prosinessor  monotony. 
They  sparkled  from  beginning  to  end  with  enlivening 
thrusts,  witty  remarks  and  mirth-provoking  anecdotes  and 
kept  that  sleepy  old  body  well  awake  and  on  the  alert  for 
striking  home-hits  and  humorous  illustrations. 

He  was  indeed  a  great  worker.  Aside  from  his  arduous 
and  unremitting  labors  in  committee  and  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate,  he  found  time  to  respond  to  requests  for  addresses 
in  all  parts  of  the  country,  on  all  possible  subjects.     He 


220  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

delivered  lectures  in  the  big  halls  in  New  York,  Boston, 
New  Orleans,  Baltimore  and  other  cities,  on  the  tariff,  the 
war  between  the  States  and  other  topics,  and  in  Washing- 
ton to  graduating  classes  bf  law  students,  while  all  over  the 
countr}-  he  spoke  at  University  and  college  connnencements, 
to  boards  of  trade,  to  agricultural  colleges  and  fairs,  historical 
societies,  etc.  Many  people  thought,  some  may  still  think, 
he  was  not  a  student  or  hard  worker,  but  if  all  his  speeches 
and  lectures  could  be  published,  the  world  would  readily 
accord  him  the  right  to  exclaim  with  Horace,  '''' Excgi  mon- 
nnieiituin  pereniiius  cere.  "  Instead  of  losing  cast,  his  repu- 
tation grew  from  the  time  he  entered  the  Senate  till  the 
day  of  his  death.  He  took  rank  from  the  start  among  the 
ablest  and  best  informed  members  of  that  great  body  and 
in  his  encounters  Vv'ith  Blaine  and  other  able  opponents,  he 
suffered  nothing  in  respect  to  his  abilities  or  his  knowledge. 
And  yet  he  was  so  amiable  and  gentle  and  genial  that  not- 
withstanding the  hard  blows  dealt  in  debate,  he  was  the 
hero  of  the  cloak  room  and  the  charm  of  the  social  circle. 

The  eulogies  published  show  in  what  estimation  he  was 
held  by  the  strongest  of  his  Republican  colleagues;  while  the 
kindness  of  personal  feelings  with  which  he  was  esteemed 
by  the  entire  Senate  is  further  exemplified  by  the  fact  that 
when  he  had  suffered  the  loss  of  an  eye,  the  Senate  voted  him, 
onmotionof  Senator  J.  P.  Jones,  one  of  the  most  stalwart  of 
his  political  opponents,  a  private  secretary,  to  be  paid  out 
of  its  contingent  funds. 

Although  naturally  as  gentle  and  lovable  as  a  woman, 
yet  when  thoroughly  aroused  he  was  a  "good  hater"  and  a 
hard  fighter.  It  was  his  good  or  ill  fortune  to  differ  with 
President  Cleveland  in  some  matters  of  prime  importance. 
Whether  fully  justifiable  or  not  he  suspected  that  the  Presi- 
dent was  using  patronage  to  reward  those  who  adopted  his 
views  as  against  others  who  felt  it  their  duty  to  oppose 
him.  Vance  was  no  bootlick.  He  had  no  element  of 
subserviency  in  his   make  up.      His  hatred  of  all   manner 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  221 

of  injustice,  including  official  influence  and  favoritism, 
was  so  strong  that  he  would  die  in  his  tracks  before  he 
would  surrender,  and  so  erect  and  sturdy  was  his  manhood 
that  he  would  even  prefer  to  persist  in  a  doubtful  course 
rather  than  seem  to  yield  to  the  blandishments  of  power  and 
patronage.  In  his  own  terse  language,  "men  will  not  be 
bullied  even  into  doing  right." 

His  fertile  imagination  and  retentive  memory  nearly 
always  supplied  an  apt  illustration  of  his  feelings  and  senti- 
ments. 

Shortly  after  Cleveland's  first  inauguration  Vance  met  a 
fellow  Senator  who  had  been  to  see  the  President  in  refer- 
ence to  some  matter  of  patronage  in  his  State  and  who 
complained  of  the  treatment  he  had  received  at  the  White 
House,  saying  the  President  was  indifferent,  if  not  disre- 
spectful. "Oh,"  said  Vance,  "you  need  not  complain  of 
that,  it  is  his  way.  He  treats  me  so,  he  treats  everybody 
so.  I  went  to  see  him  a  few  days  ago  and  he  treated  me 
so  indifferently  that  I  was  reminded  of  a  case  I  had  in  court 
up  in  Buncombe  county  soon  after  I  began  to  practice  law. 
An  old  man  had  died  leaving  a  small  estate,  mostly  of  land 
in  the  mountains,  and  his  two  sons,  Bill  and  Jim,  the  only 
heirs,  employed  me  to  settle  up  the  estate,  pay  off  the  debts 
and  divide  the  balance  of  the  money  between  them.  The 
land  had  been  sold  under  an  order  of  court,  but  the  credit- 
ors were  making  some  disturbance,  and  for  one  cause  and 
another  the  final  hearing  and  decree  had  been  postponed 
for  several  terms.  The  boys  grew  very  impatient,  but 
I  assured  them  I  was  confident  the  case  would  be  finally 
disposed  of  at  the  ensuing  term.  Court  came,  the  boys 
were  in  the  court  house  in  high  expectation.  The  case  was 
called  and  after  considerable  wrangling  and  disputation 
was  again  continued.  At  recess  the  clients  were  in  the 
attorney's  office  talking  the  matter  over  when  the  elder 
turned  to  the  other  and  said,  '  Well,  Jim,  you  seen  how  that 
was  done  and  you  know  our  lav/yer  was  not  to  blame  ;  he 


/ 


222  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

done  all  he  could  and  I  am  satisfied.'  '  Well,  I  am  not,' 
answered  Jim,  '  I  seen  it  all  and  know  our  lawyer  is  not  to 
blame,  but.  Bill,  I  will  tell  you  what's  a  fact,  there  has  been 
so  much  bother  about  this  case,  so  many  disputes,  refer- 
ences and  continuances,  I  am  so  disgusted  with  the  whole 
business  that  durned  if  I  ain't  almost  sorry  the  old  man 
died.'  "  The  application  of  this  story  to  the  subject  of  the 
conversation  betw^een  the  Senators  is  obvious. 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  scenes  and  sensations 
he  produced  in  the  cloak  rooms : 

Eminence  in  church  or  State  had  no  terrors  for  Vance's 
humor  when  once  aroused.  The  late  Bishop  Lyman,  of 
North  Carolina,  was  a  man  of  great  dignity  and 
graciousness  of  manner  and  wa?  always  serious.  He 
called  on  Senator  Vance  in  the  marble  room  and  re- 
quested him  to  bring  with  him  Senator  Edmunds,  of 
Vermont,  who  was  general  counsel  of  the  House  of  Bishops, 
and  as  all  the  world  knows  as  learned  in  the  ecclesiastical 
as  in  the  civil  laws,  and  a  grea,t  Episcopalian.  After  some 
prefatory  formalities  the  Bishop  dived  at  once  into  the  busi- 
ness that  he  wished  to  consult  the  great  lawyer  about;  this 
concluded  they  unbent  into  personal  conversation.  Vance 
assured  them  that  he  had  narrowly  escaped  being  a  con- 
siderable theologian  himself.  When  I  was  a  lad  in  those 
great  mountains  that  laugh  at  the  Vermont  hills  and  that 
our  good  Bishop  has  shown  his  appreciation  of  by  building 
him  a  home  in,  I  was  blessed  with  a  good  aunt  who  sent  me 


I,  f  '  to  a~  most  excellent  Calv|nist  school,  and  delighted  in 
/  devoting  the  savings  of  her  needle  in  making  a  Presbyterian 
preacher  of  me.  I  submitted  to  it  for  a  year  or  more  and 
made  some  progress  in  learning  the  hard  sayings,  if  not  in 
amazing  grace,  until  my  conscience  rebelled  and  in  my 
next  visit  to  her  I  frankly  confessed  that  I  could  not  go  on 
in  the  path  of  her  choosing.  I  cannot  bear  even  now  to 
think  of  the  grief  that  she  showed  at  my  determination, 
and,  of  course,  she  must  have  a   reason  for  it.     T   tried   to 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  223 

explain  to  her  that  one  good  reason  was  as  good  as  a  thou- 
sand and  that  everything  was  embraced  in  the  simple 
reason  that  I  did  not  feel  myself  good  enough  to  be  a  Pres- 
byterian minister.  She  wrestled  with  me  in  spirit  and 
refused  to  let  me  depart  until  she  had  got  a  promise  of  some 
sort  out  of  me.  Finding  me  quite  settled  in  my  decision, 
she  reluctantly  gave  up  her  dream— then  a  bright  hope 
lieftied-  tQ.come  to  her,  and  caressing  my  hand  she  said  in 
an  eager  wa3^Zeb,  don't  you  think  youare^,.good  enough 
to  prepare  to  be  an  Episcopal  preacher. 

After  the  Bishop  and  the  lawyer  had  recovered  from  the 
shock,  they  laughed  as  only  men  can  who  are  unused  to  it 
and  who  are  taken  unawares  by  a  return  of  their  youthful 
feelings  ;  and  the  great  lawyer  makes  a  story  of  it  now  and 
then  that  would  cause  the  average  raconteur  to  turn  green 
with  envy. 

^Vance's  versatility  was  among  his  most  wonderful  ac- 
complishments. While  he  was  the  recognized  leader  of  his 
party  after  Senator  Beck's  death,  on  all  questions  of  tariff 
and  finance,  he  yet  displayed  extraordinary  knowledge  of 
general  legislative  topic,  and  was  ever  ready  to  take  part  in 
debates,  especially  where  the  conduct  and  motives  of  the 
South  and  the  Southern  people  were  involved.  He  was 
always  interesting,  and  generally  stirred  his  opponents  in 
lively  fashion,  while  pleasing  and  delighting  his  friends, 
and  he  was  the  especial  favorite  of  the  galleries,  which  never 
failed  to  be  packed  when  it  was  known  he  was  to  speak. 
The  following  is  a  specimen  of  the  scenes  and  merriment 
he  often  created : 

Senator  Vance  set  colleagues  and  spectators  in  a  roar  by  reading  in 
splendid  style  the  following  pastoral,  which  he  said  was  entitled, 
"The  Girl  with  one  Stocking;  a  protective  pastoral  composed  and 
arranged  for  the  spinning  wheel,  and  respectfully  dedicated  to  that 
devoted  friend  of  protected  machinery  and  high  taxes,  the  Senator 
from  Rhode  Island,  Mr.  Aldrich." 


224  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Our  Marj'  had  a  little  lamb, 

Her  heart  was  most  intent 
To  make  its  wool  beyond  its  worth, 

Bring  56  per  cent. 

A  pauper  girl  across  the  sea 

Had  one  small  lamb  also, 
Whose  wool  for  less  than  half  that  sum 

She'd  willingly  let  go. 

Another  girl  who  had  no  sheep. 

No  stockings — wool  nor  flax — 
But  money  enough  just  for  to  buy 

A  pair  without  the  tax, 

Went  to  the  pauper  girl  to  get 

Some  wool  to  shield  her  feet, 
And  make  her  stockings,  not  of  flax, 

But  out  of  wool  complete. 

When  Mary  saw  the  girl's  design 

She  straight  began  to  swear 
She'd  make  her  buy  both  wool  and  tax 

Or  let  one  leg  go  bare. 

And  so  she  cried  :     "Protect,  Reform  ! 

Let  pauper  wool  in  free  ! 
If  it  will  keep  her  legs  both  warm 

What  will  encourage  me  ?  " 

So  it  was  done,  and  people  said 

Where'er  that  poor  girl  went, 
One  leg  was  warm  with  wool  and  one 

With  56  per  cent. 

Now  praise  to  Mary  and  her  lamb, 

Who  did  the  scheme  invent. 
To  clothe  one-half  a  girl  in  wool 

And  one-half  in  per  cent. 

All  honor,  too,  to  Mary's  friend, 

And  all  protective  acts, 
That  clothe  the  rich  in  real  wool 

And  wrap  the  poor  in  tax. 

The  reading  of  this  piece  of  doggerel  was  received  with  shouts  of 
laughter,  even  Republican  Senators  leaning  back  in  their  seats  and 
giving  unrestrained  way  to  their  mirth. 

As  for  the  people  in  the  galleries  they  screamed  and  yelled  frantic- 
ally, and  when  Senator  Vance  sat  down  they  kept  up  their  uproarpus 
applause  until  the  North  Carolina  orator  gravel)'  inclined  his  head  in 
acknowledgment. — Washington  Correspondence  Chicago  Herald. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  225 

"When  the  ■McKinley  bill  was  pending,"  says  Hon. 
F.  A.  Woodard  in  his  eulogy,  "  Senator  Vance,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Finance  Committee,  was  the  recognized  leader  of 
his  party  and  the  burden  of  the  debate  of  that  bill  fell 
largely  upon  him.  The  student  of  the  difficult  and  com- 
plex question  of  tariff  can  find  in  the  literature  of  that  sub- 
ject no  more  valuable  material  for  its  mastery  than  the 
speeches  of  Senator  Vance,  and  upon  most  of  the  important 
questions  coming  before  that  body,  he  spoke,  and  always 
with  singular  force  and  ability. "  And  Senator  Gray,  of 
Delaware,  in  his  eulogistic  remarks,  said:  "His  equipment 
as  an  orator  was  strong  and  unique.  There  are  few  of  us 
who  cannot  recall  the  delight  occasioned  by  his  display  of 
wit,  and  how  story,  epigram  and  apt  illustration  lighted  up 
many  a  tedious  discussion,  his  clearness  of  mental  vision 
making  many  a  crooked  path  straight.  No  debate  was 
ever  dull  in  which  he  was  engaged  and  no  one  cared  to 
leave  this  chamber  when  Vance  was  on  the  floor. " 

Among  his  earliest  speeches  in  the  Senate  was  the  fol- 
lowing most  characteristic  one,  portraying  the  political 
affairs  in  the  South,  with  the  inevitable  causes  of  its  solidity 
in  opposition  to  the  Republican  administration : 

The  Senate  having  under  consideration  the  bill  (H.  R.  No.  2) 
making  appropriations  for  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  ex- 
penses of  the  Government  for  the  fiscal  year  endingjune  30,  18S0,  and 
for  other  purposes,  Mr.  Vance  said  : 

Mr,  President — It  seems  to  be  the  peculiar  misfortune  of  the 
section  from  which  I  come,  and  I  believe  it  to  be  also  the  misfortune 
of  the  whole  country,  that  no  question  in  any  way  pertaining  to  the 
South  or  originating  with  any  representative  from  the  South  has  been 
able  to  obtain  a  fair  hearing  in  these  halls  upon  its  merits.  Indeed  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  day  for  that  kind  of  discussion  had  passed  away 
forever.  I  had  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  object  of  all  discussion 
was  to  elicit  truth,  and  not  onlj-  was  it  useless  but  such  discussion  was 
mischievous  if  that  was  not  the  object  to  be  attained.  If  this  indeed 
be  so,  I  might  appeal  with  confidence  to  every  fair-minded  man  in  the 
United  States  who  hears  or  reads  our  debates  here  and  ask  if  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  questions  now  before  the  Senate  has  been  fairly  or 
logically  handled  with  the  view  to  ascertain  the  truth.     It  is  proposed  : 

16 


226  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

First.  By  the  legislation  which  is  now  in  part  before  us  and  which 
has  been,  to  repeal  the  laws  under  which  authority  is  assxuned  to  in- 
terfere with  the  elections  of  the  country  b}-  the  use  of  the  military. 

Second.  To  repeal  the  laws  by  which  the  United  States  marshals 
and  supervisors  were  authorized  to  control  the  elections  of  the  country. 

Third.  To  repeal  the  law  requiring  jurors  in  the  Federal  Courts 
to  take  the  test  oath. 

Now,  these  are  the  questions,  plain  and  simple,  which  have  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  the  American  Congress  and  the  people  for  the 
last  three  months.  Common  sense  and  a  decent  regard  for  the 
public  interest  require  that  they  should  receive  at  our  hands  the 
calmest  and  most  dispassionate  consideration  which  it  is  in  our  power 
to  bestow  upon  them  ;  that  they  should  be  abstracted  and  dissociated 
from  e\ery  local  passion  or  prejudice  and  viewed  solely  with  regard 
to  their  effect  upon  the  public  welfare.  Has  this  been  done  ?  The 
record  of  our  proceedings  is  evidence  that  it  has  not.  The  staple  of 
the  arguments  in  opposition  has  been  as  wide  of  this  object  as  it  is 
possible  for  human  imagination  to  conceive.  One  Senator,  as  his 
argument,  cries  out  r^^i?///c«  /  another  cries  out  secession;  another 
exclaims,  with  alarm,  that  rebel  soldiers  are  here  in  these  halls  ;  an- 
other claims  that  the  North  pays  the  larger  part  of  the  direct  taxes, 
and  nearly  all  of  the  taxes  collected  on  imports  ;  another  sees  a  goblin 
in  the  shape  of  a  Democratic  caucus  ;  another  holds  up  his  hands  in 
holy  horror  in  contemplating  the  fact  that  there  is  absolutely  a  Demo- 
cratic majority  in  both  branches  of  Congress  ;  and  yet  another  sees 
ruin  in  a  solid  South  ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  one  Senator  exclaims  in 
the  famine  of  argument,  "Jefferson  Davis  ;"  and  that  is  the  contribu- 
tion that  he  furnishes  to  the  literature  of  the  country. 

These  various  and  logical  appeals  have  not  even  the  merit  that 
the  old  negro  groom  attributed  to  John  Minor  Bott's  race-horses  ;  for 
when  taunted  with  the  fact  that  his  horses  could  not  beat  anything, 
he  congratulated  himself  that  at  all  events  they  could  beat  each  other  ! 
These  apologies  for  arguments  cannot  even  beat  each  other  in  ab- 
surdity. An  honest  judge  will  be  compelled  to  decide  that  the  race  is 
a  drawn  one  and  all  bets  are  off. 

If  our  proceedings,  Mr.  President,  were  in  the  nature  of  a  com- 
plaint and  answer  there  is  not  a  court  in  the  land  but  would  be 
compelled  to  order  that  the  answers  put  in  here  by  the  Republican 
defendants  to  these  bills  be  stricken  out  as  frivolous,  and  that  a  judg- 
ment be  rendered  in  favor  of  the  plaintiffs.  I  will  not  recapitulate  the 
arguments  in  favor  of  these  bills.  They  are  before  the  country  and 
will  be  properly  judged  of  in  due  season.  I  desire  only  to  make  a 
few  observations  in  reply  to  these  sectional  appeals. 

Mr.  President,  who  made  the  South  solid  ?  The  answer  is  as  plain 
and  unmistakable  as  it  is  possible  to  make  anything  to  the  human  in- 
tellect :  the  Republican  party  is  responsible  for  this  thing.      At   the 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  227 

be<^inning  of  the  late  war  almost  the  entire  Whig  party  of  the  South, 
with  a  large  and  influential  portion  of  the  Democratic,  were  in  favor 
of  the  Union  and  depreciated  with  their  whole  souls  the  attempt  at  its 
destruction,  but  through  love  of  their  native  States  and  sympathy 
with  their  kindred  and  neighbors  they  were  drawn  into  the  support  of 
the  war.  What  became  of  them  after  the  war  ?  Their  wisdom  in  op- 
posing it  was  justified  by  the  ruinous  results  ;  their  patriotism  and 
courage  were  highlj'  appreciated,  and  when  peace  came  this  class  were 
in  high  favor  at  the  South,  while  the  secessionists  as  the  original  advo- 
cates of  a  disastrous  policy  were  down  in  public  estimation. 

If  j'ou  gentlemen  of  the  North  had  then  come  forward  with  liberal 
terms  and  taken  these  men  by  the  hand,  you  would  have  established 
a  party  in  the  South  that  would  have  perpetuated  your  power  in  this 
Government  for  a  generation,  provided  you  had  listened  to  the  views 
of  those  men,  and  respected  their  policy  on  questions  touching  their 
section.  But  you  pursued  the  very  opposite  course,  a  course  which 
compelled  almost  every  decent,  intelligent  man  of  Anglo-Saxon  pre- 
judices and  traditions  to  take  a  firm  and  determined  stand  against  you  ; 
a  course  which  consolidated  all  shades  of  political  opinion  into  one 
resolute  mass  to  defend  what  they  conceived  to  be  their  ancient  forms 
of  government,  laws,  liberties,  and  civilization  itself.  By  confiscation 
and  the  destruction  of  war,  3'ou  had  already  stripped  us  of  property  to 
the  extent  of  at  least  $3,000,000,000,  and  left  our  land  desolate,  rent, 
and  torn,  our  homes  consumed  with  fire,  and  our  pleasant  places  a 
wasted  wilderness. 

Peace  then  came — no,  not  peace,  but  the  end  of  war  came— no,  not 
the  end  of  war,  but  the  end  of  legitimate,  civilized  war,  and  for  three 
years  you  dallied  with  us.  One  day  we  were  treated  as  though  we 
were  in  the  Union,  and  as  though  we  had  legitimate  State  govern- 
ments in  operation  ;  another  day  we  were  treated  as  though  we  were 
out  of  the  Union,  and  our  State  governments  were  rebellious  usurpa- 
tions. It  was  the  regular  game  of  "Now  you  see  it  and  now  you 
don't."  We  were  in  the  Union  for  all  purposes  of  oppression  ;  we 
were  out  of  it  for  all  purposes  of  protection.  Finally,  seeing  that  we 
still  remained  Democratic,  the  Union  was  dissolved  by  act  of  Congress 
and  we  were  formally  legislated  outside  in  order  that  you  might  bring 
us  into  the  Union  again  in  such  a  way  as  to  guarantee  us  a  Republican 
form  of  government — that  is,  that  we  should  vote  the  Republican 
ticket  ;  and  you  cited  article  IV,  section  4,  of  the  Constitution  as  your 
authority  to  do  this.  You  deposed  our  State  governments  and  ejected 
from  office  every  oflBcial,  from  Governor  to  township  constable,  and 
remitted  us  to  a  State  of  chaos  in  which  the  only  light  of  human 
authority  for  the  regulation  of  human  affairs  and  the  control  of  human 
passions  was  that  which  gleamed  from  the  polished  point  of  the 
soldier's  bayonet.  Under  this  simple  and  easily  comprehended  system 
of  jurisprudence  so  conponant  to  the  great  assertion  of  the  great  Dec- 


228  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

laration,  that  "  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed,"  you  began  and  completed  the  task  of  guaranteeing 
to  us  a  "Republican"  form  of  government.  You  disfranchised  at 
least  ten  per  cent,  of  our  citizens,  embracing  the  wisest,  best  and  most 
experienced.  You  enfranchised  our  slaves,  the  lowest  and  most  ignor- 
ant ;  and  you  placed  over  them  as  leaders  a  class  of  men  who  have 
attained  to  the  highest  positions  of  infamy  known  to  modern  ages. 

In  order  to  preserve  the  semblance  of  consent,  conventions  were 
called  to  form  new  constitutions,  the  delegates  to  which  were  chosen 
by  this  new  and  unheard-of  constituency.  The  military  counted  the 
votes,  often  at  the  headquarters  in  distant  States,  the  general  in  com- 
mand determining  the  election  and  qualifications  of  the  delegates. 
Many  of  these  delegates  were  negroes,  on  whom  the  right  to  vote  and 
hold  office  had  not  yet  been  bestov/ed.  They  framed  constitutions  in 
which  they  gave  themselves  this  right,  and  it  was  submitted  for  ratifi- 
cation to  the  same  constituency  who  chose  the  delegates,  and  none 
other — that  is  to  say,  they  propounded  the  question  whether  they 
should  vote  and  hold  office  to  themselves,  and  decided  this  question 
by  their  own  votes,  while  white  men  were  not  permitted  to  vote.  Per- 
haps the  annals  of  the  race  from  which  we  spring,  with  all  its  various 
branches  spread  throiighout  the  world,  cannot  furnish  such  a  parody 
upon  the  principles  of  free  government  based  upon  the  consent  of  the 
governed. 

These  constitutions  were  declared  adopted  bj'  the  general  in  com- 
mand. Perhaps  they  were  adopted.  And  at  the  same  election,  so 
called,  were  also  chosen  State  officers  for  a  long  term  of  years,  and 
chosen  by  the  same  constituency.  The  new  governments  went  to 
work,  and  in  the  short  space  of  four  years  they  plundered  those  eleven 
Southern  States  to  the  extent  of  $262,000,000  ;  that  is  to  say,  they  took 
all  that  we  had  that  was  amenable  to  larceny,  and  they  would  have 
taken  more,  doubtless,  but  for  the  same  reason  that  the  weather  could 
not  get  any  colder  in  Minnesota,  as  described  by  a  returned  emigrant 
from  that  State,  "because  the  thermometer  was  too  short."  [Laugh- 
ter.] And  now  recalling  these  facts  and  a  hundred  more  which  I 
cannot  now  name,  can  any  candid  man  wonder  that  we  became  solid  ? 
Can  he  wonder  that  old  Whigs  and  Democrats,  Union  men  and  seces- 
sionists, should  unite  in  a  desperate  effort  to  throw  off  the  dominion 
of  a  party  which  had  inflicted  these  things  upon  them  ?  And  your 
military  interference,  your  abuse,  and  your  denunciation  continue 
unto  this  day. 

Can  you  wonder  that  your  following  in  that  covintry  has  dwindled 
into  insignificance  ?  The  negro  alone  is  your  friend  there  and  a  verj'^ 
few  whites,  and  his  eyes,  blinded  as  they  have  been,  are  steadily  open- 
ing to  the  great  truth  which  you  ought  to  have  taught  him,  that  his 
prosperity  and  welfare  are  inseparably  connected  with  that  of  his 
white  neighbors.     One  by  one  the  northern  adventurers  who  led  them 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  229 

have  packed  their  carpet-bags  and  silently  stolen  back  to  the  slums  of 
northern  society  whence  they  originated,  and  the  lonely  native  Repub- 
lican makes  his  solitary  lair  in  some  custom-house  or  post-office  or 
revenue  headquarters.  The  broad,  free,  bright  world  outside  of  these 
retreats  in  all  the  South  is  Democratic,  thanks  to  you,  the  Republican 
party  of  the  North.  It  would  be  well  enough  for  Republican  leaders 
to  remember  that  the  inflexible  law  of  compensation  exists  in  politics 
as  well  as  in  all  things  else,  If  we  violate  the  laws  of  health  we  suffer 
bodily  pains  or  early  dissolution  ;  if  we  violate  the  laws  of  society  we 
suffer  in  public  esteem  ;  if  we  violate  the  laws  of  man  we  are  subject 
to  its  pains  and  penalties  ;  if  we  violate  the  laws  of  God,  we  will  suffer 
the  penalties  of  sin  ;  if  we  violate  the  laws  of  nature  we  can  reap  none 
of  the  benefits  which  our  knowledge  of  them  now  enables  us  to  derive 
therefrom.  So  it  is  in  politics.  You  outraged  all  of  our  sensibilities 
in  your  treatment  of  us,  and  we  naturally  became  your  political  ene- 
mies.    There  is  no  impunity  for  transgression. 

You  now  affect  to  treat  the  presence  of  representative  Southern 
men  in  these  Halls  as  both  an  intrusion  and  a  calamity,  and  the  tone 
of  your  speeches  will  induce  an  intelligent  stranger  sitting  in  these 
galleries  for  the  last  three  months  to  believe  that  yoii  were  sorry  you 
had  spent  so  much  blood  and  treasure  to  force  the  South  back  into  the 
Union.  Is  this  really  true  ?  Do  you  regret  that  the  proper  sentiment 
of  society  in  the  South  is  represented  here  ?  And  rather  than  this 
should  be,  would  you  prefer  that  the  South  had  staid  where  she  tried 
to  go  ?  I  hope  not.  For  the  sake  of  your  patriotism  I  hope  not.  Had 
you  rather  that  the  Union  had  been  lost  than  that  you  should  lose 
power  ?  Was  it  the  Union  you  fought  for  or  was  it  political  suprem- 
acy ?  Notwithstanding  the  wild  blasts  of  alarm  which  you  are  sound- 
ing throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  vast  country,  you  well 
know  that  the  only  danger  which  our  presence  here  indicates  is  the 
danger  of  j'our  being  ousted  from  our  political  power.  In  what  way  can 
the  Democracy  injure  this  country  ?  What  motive  have  we  to  injure 
it  ?  Having  surrendered  the  doctrine  of  secession  and  abandoned  any 
intention  whatsoever  to  divide  this  Union,  how  could  we  expect  that 
the  Democracy  to  which  we  belong  could  obtain  and  hold  the  control 
of  the  Government  except  by  showing  the  people  by  our  acts  that  we 
are  patriotically  desirous  of  promoting  its  welfare  and  its  glory.  But 
you  say  you  distrust  these  expressions.  My  friends,  in  your  hearts  j-ou 
do  not.  On  the  contrary,  a  man  who  has  offered  his  blood  once  for  his 
plighted  faith  you  believe  when  he  plights  his  faith  again.  There  is 
not  a  Southern  rebel,  no  matter  how  bitter  and  rampant  he  may  have 
been,  that  you  have  not  received  with  arms  wide  spread  and  rewarded 
with  offices  of  honor  and  trust,  who  came  to  you  with  craven  repent- 
ance on  his  tongue,  ready  to  vote  the  Republican  ticket  and  eating  dirt 
with  the  same  gluttonous  appetite  with  which  he  once  ate  fire.  You 
profess  to  V)elieve  him,  but  you  despise  him  in  your  hearts.     You  are 


230  WFE   OF  VANCE. 

not  alarmed  to  receive  liini  and  you  cast  no  suspicion  upon  his  pro- 
fessions of  sincerity,  though,  as  has  more  than  once  happened,  he  asks 
you  to  believe  he  tells  the  truth  to-day  because  he  told  a  lie  3'esterday. 

Mr.  President,  it  has  seemed  to  me  not  a  little  hard  and  inhospi- 
table that  Southern  Senators  whose  States  were  forced  back  into  the 
Union  should  be  so  often  twitted  with  their  presence  on  this  floor. 
We  are  here  in  obedience  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  and,  if  I 
recollec^aright,  some  of  the  Senators  on  this  floor  came  to  the  South 
to  invite  us  back  into  these  Halls;  and  I  have  a  distinct  recollection 
that  the  Senator  from  Illinois  [Mr.  Logan]  and  the  Senator  from  Rhode 
Island  [Mr  Burnside]  came  all  the  way  down  to  North  Carolina  to 
invite  that  State  to  send  Senators  here,  and  they  came  attended  with 
such  a  numerous  retinue,  and  were  so  urgent  in  their  solicitation,  that 
I,  for  one,  found  it  impossible  to  resist  so  weighty  an  invitation. 
[Laughter.] 

Mr.  Logan — When  I  got  here  I  did  not  find  you.     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  Vance — But  I  came  as  soon  as  I  could.  [Laughter.]  The 
honorable  Senator  found  me,  and  he  would  not  open  the  door  for  me 
after  he  had  invited  me.     [Laughter.] 

Now  that  we  are  here,  the  Senator  from.  Illinois  complains  of  our 
presence,  and  the  Senator  from  New  York  accuses  us  of  wishing  to 
"dominate"  at  the  feast  to  which  Vv^e  have  been  invited,  and  says  that 
we  are  like  McGregor,  who  claimed  that  the  head  of  the  table  was 
wherever  he  sat.  For  one,  I  disclaim  all  desire  to  dominate  at  the 
feast,  unless,  indeed,  voting  for  Democratic  measures  be  domination. 
I  do  desire,  however,  to  be  equally  honored  with  the  other  guests;  and 
I  desire,  in  vindication  also  of  the  good  name  and  rude  hospitality  of 
McGregor,  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  he  would  have  been  the  last  man 
in  all  Scotland,  riever  and  cattle-lifter  as  he  was,  to  invite  a  man  into 
his  house  and  up  to  his  board,  and  then  denounce  him  for  being  there. 

Mr.  President,  would  there  be  any  real  danger  to  the  best  interests 
of  this  country  if  it  were  again  under  the  complete  control  of  the 
Democratic  party  ?  Surely  not.  It  is  histoi-y  that  this  country  owes  its 
chief  glory  and  development  in  the  past  to  that  grand  historic  party. 
But  for  its  sagacity  and  patriotism,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  we  would  still 
be  a  feeble  and  inconsiderable  people.  The  Democratic  party  have  ex- 
tended the  boundaries  of  this  Republic  from  the  Mississippi  -to  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  Its  policy  acquired  the  territory  of  Louisiana,  which 
extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  up  the  Father  of  Waters  to  the 
British  Dominion,  embracing  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Dakota,  Kansas,  and  all 
that  vast  region  west  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  acquired  Florida, 
Texas,  New  Mexico,  California,  including  their  grand  extent  of  country, 
plains,  rivers,  and  mountains,  with  all  their  wealth  of  gold  and  silver 
and  precious  metals,  embracing  more  than  a  million  of  square  miles. 
As  I  now  remember,  not  a  single  foot  of  land  has  been  added  to  the 
empire  by  the  Republican  party,  except  Alaska — a  broad  stretch  of  icy 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  23 1 

waste,  a  laud  where  frozen  earth  contends  with  frozen  water,  inhabited 
by  seals  and  savages,  in  a  climate  which  I  have  heard  described  as  nine 
months  of  winter  and  three  months  of  damnation  cold^steaHier. 
[Laughter.] 

In  addition  to  this  territorial  wealth  and  power  which  Democracy 
has  given  to  the  Republic,  its  great  lawyers  and  magnificent  statesmen 
have  in  all  generations  of  our  existence  been  the  special  champions  and 
expounders  of  the  Constitution — the  bond  of  our  Union  and  the  very 
ark  of  the  covenant  of  our  liberties.  They  have  striven  to  have  its 
principles  understood,  its  provisions  maintained  in  their  purity,  and  its 
blessings  extended  to  all;  and  great  as  their  services  have  been  in  en- 
larging our  boundaries,  spreading  our  commerce,  and  elevating  our 
diplomacy  abroad,  their  services  to  our  people  and  to  mankind  in  the 
exaltation  of  constitutional  principles  more  entitle  them  to  the  confi- 
dence of  American  citizens  than  all  things  put  together.  In  addition 
to  their  services  in  maintaining  the  Constitution  they  have  in 
the  main  been  the  chief  promoters  of  public  economy  and  the  enemies 
of  corruption.  Under  Democratic  rule  there  has  been  in  this  country  no 
Credit  Mobilier,  there  has  been  no  Black  Friday,  no  Sanborn  contracts, 
no  robbery  of  freedmen's  savings  banks,  no  Belknap,  no  returning 
boards  and  no  electoral  commission;  no  military  interference  at  the 
polls,  no  test  oath  for  jurors  in  the  United  States  courts,  no  Federal 
spies  and  overseers  when  the  people  were  choosing  their  rulers.  And 
now  that  we  are  seeking  to  restore  this  state  of  things  and  to  bring  back 
the  government  to  the  paths  in  which  our  fathers  trod,  the  attempt 
is  denounced  as  revolutionary  and  the  trumpet  is  blown  to  warn  the 
country  that  the  end  of  all  things  is  about  to  come,  when,  as  we  trust, 
nothing  is  about  to  come  to  an  end  except  the  domination  of  the 
Republican  party. 

Coming  briefly  to  the  real  questions,  I  ask  why  should  the  law 
authorizing  the  military  to  be  used  at  the  polls  not  be  repealed  and 
why  should  the  law  authorizing  Federal  supervision  also  be  not 
repealed  ?  I  take  it  to  be  indisputably  established  without  further 
argument,  that  the  whole  subject  relating  to  the  elective  franchise 
is  placed  by  the  Constitution  under  the  control  of  the  States,  and  all 
that  the  Federal  government  can  do  is  to  see  that  the  States,  as  such, 
do  not  discriminate  against  any  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude.  This  is  the  whole  duty  and  power  of  Congress 
as  declared  by  the  Supreme  Court.  When  any  Republican  Senator 
has  ventured  for  one  moment  to  abandon  the  line  of  inflammatory 
appeal  to  the  sectional  feeling  of  the  country,  the  excuses  given  for 
the  retention  of  this  law  upon  the  statute  book  are  illogical  almost  to 
puerility. 

The  Senator  from  Maine,  [Mr.  Blaine]  gravely  urges  that  it  should 
not  be  repealed  because  the  great  bulk  of  the  army  is  in  the  distant 
West,  only  some  few  hundreds  being  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 


232  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

He  tells  us  in  the  course  of  his  enumeration  that  there  are  only  about 
thirty  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  and  asks  the  .Senators  from  that 
State  if  they  are  afraid  of  that  number  of  soldiers  ?  Passing  over  the 
obvious  fact  that  within  thirt}'  days  ten  thousand  could  be  sent  there 
if  desired,  I  answer  that  we  do  fear  them,  because  they  represent  the 
power  of  the  United  States  government  and  the  enmity  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  which  wields  that  power  ;  we  fear  them  as  the  Hollanders 
fears  the  first  small  leak  in  the  dikes  which  bear  back  the  waves  of  the 
ocean  from  deluging  the  meadows  of  his  homestead  ;  we  fear  them  as 
the  physician  fears  the  first  speck  of  gangrene  in  the  system  of  his 
patient  ;  we  fear  them  as  the  sailor  fears  the  piling  up  of  the  storm 
clouds  upon  the  horizon,  knowing  that  their  deceptive  beauty  covers  the 
fierce  desolation  of  the  tempest  ;  we  fear  them  as  the  shepherd  of  the 
mountain  fears  his  lambs  at  even  the  flitting  of  a  shadow  athwart  his 
path,  for  he  knows  it  to  be  the  shadow  of  the  eagle,  the  remorseless 
tryant  of  the  air  ;  we  fear  them  as  Charlemagne  feared  the  rude 
wooden  ships  of  the  Norse  Vikings  on  their  first  appearance  in  the 
seas  of  his  empire  ;  we  fear  them  as  all  patriotic  Romans  feared  the 
crossing  of  the  Rubicon  by  Csesar,  the  passage  of  which  with  arms 
in  his  hand  marked  him  as  the  enemy  of  Roman  liberty. 

Even  so  we  fear  and  believe,  that  when  an  American  Executive 
crosses  the  Rubicon  of  his  constitutional  powers  and  appears  at  the 
place  of  choosing  our  rulers,  armed  either  with  the  sword  or  with 
illegal  powers  of  arrest,  he  thereby  proclaims  himself  the  enemy  of 
the  liberties  of  our  people.  A  flagrant  illustration  of  the  justice  of 
this  fear  is  to  be  found  in  the  various  orders  of  the  War  Department 
directing  the  concentration  of  troops  in  the  States  of  South  Carolina 
Florida  and  Louisiana  on  the  occasion  of  the  election  of  1876.  The 
excuse  that  these  soldiers  were  notintended  to  interfere  with  elections 
or  to  be  placed  at  the  polls,  but  only  to  be  sufliciently  near  to  keep  the 
peace,  is  not  sustained  b}'  the  facts  of  that  reign  of  military  violence, 
nor  will  it  be  if  tried  again.  I  quote  from  an  order  dated  headquarters 
Department  of  the  South,  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  October  8,  1876, 
issued  by  General  Ruger  : 

"Should  the  barracks  or  camp  in  any  case  be  so  far  from  the  place 
of  voting  that  prompt  assistance  could  not  on  occasion  arising  be  ren- 
dered the  civil  officers,  the  commanding  officer  v.-ill  so  place  his 
command  or  a  siifficient  part  thereof  that  such  assistance,  if  required, 
may  be  promptly  given.  No  troops,  however,  will  be  placed  actually 
at  any  po/l  oi  election  except  upon  reqtcireine^it  to  that  effect  by  the 
marshal  or  his  deputy.^'' 

vSo  it  seems  that  the  discretion  as  to  whether  the  law  should  be 
violated  or  not,  was  vested  in  a  deputy  marshal  !  In  fact,  they  were 
so  illegally  disposed  and  used  in  a  hundred  instances.  The  President, 
as  appears  by  the  order  of  General  Townsend  to  General  Emorj-,  dated 
October  27,  1874,  seemed  anxious  to  have  the  troops  placed  at  the  polls 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  233 

without  the  appearance  of  doing  so.  In  that  order  he  propounds  a 
physical  problem  or  conundrum  to  General  Emory  which  that  officer 
had  to  give  up.     He  says  : 

"  Cannot  points  be  selected  near  polls  where  attempts  to  overawe 
voters,  likely  to  result  in  riots,  may  be  made,  and  troops  stationed 
there  a  day  or  two  beforehand  ?  It  would  not  be  desirable  to  have 
soldiers  at  or  too  near  the  polls  as  all  appearatice  of  military  inter- 
ference, except  to  secure  voters  their  right  tovote,  should  be  avoided.'''' 

Not  to  "  keep  the  peace,"  mind  you,  but  to  secure  voters  their 
right  to  vote  !  Now,  this  was  a  hard  problem  :  to  place  troops  so  far 
from  the  polls  as  to  avoid  all  appearance  of  interference  with  the  elec- 
tions, and  yet  so  near  as  to  actually  interfere  by  securing  all  men  in 
their  right  to  vote  !  Quod  est  demonstrandum.  It  was  too  much  for 
General  Emory — in  fact,  it  was  too  much  for  common  sense  and  com- 
mon honesty.  All  these  orders  show  a  palpable  and  shameless 
determination  on  the  part  of  the  Executive  to  control  both  the  elec- 
tions and  the  counting  of  the  votes  of  presidential  electors,  as  well  as 
the  organization  of  State  governments.  The  manner  in  which  the 
troops  were  shifted  about  from  one  to  the  other  of  these  three  States, 
on  which  the  presidential  election  depended,  exhibits  the  animus  of 
this  infamous  transaction  in  a  manner  so  plain  that  the  wayfaring 
man,  though  a  Republican,  need  not  err  therein. 

But  the  President  tells  us  in  his  veto  message  that  there  has  been 
no  interference  during  his  administration,  and  promises  that  there 
shall  be  none.  vSo  we  are  to  take  his  ro3'al  promise  to  respect  the  peo- 
ple's liberties,  and  not  to  have  them  secured  by  law  ?  ,Here  is  the 
promise  of  one  President  of  the  United  States,  and  one  who  stands 
exceedingly  high  in  Republican  estimation,  dated  November  10,  1876, 
to  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  Washington,  District  of  Columbia  : 

"  Instruct  General  Auger,  in  Louisiana,  and  General  Ruger,  in 
Florida,  to  be  vigilant  with  the  force  at  their  command  to  preserve 
peace  and  good  order,  and  to  see  that  the  proper  and  legal  board  of 
canvassers  are  unmolested  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  Should 
there  be  anj'  grounds  of  suspicion  of  fraudulent  counting  on  either 
side  it  should  be  reported  and  denounced  at  once.  No  man  worthv  of 
the  office  of  President  would  be  willing  to  hold  the  office  if  counted 
in,  placed  there  by  fraud.  Either  party  can  afford  to  be  disappointed 
in  the  result,  but  the  country  cannot  afford  to  have  the  result  tainted 
by  the  suspicion  of  illegal  or  false  returns.  U.  S.  GRANT." 

On  the  same  day  the  following  telegram  is  also  forwarded  to  Gen- 
eral Sherman  : 

"The  President  thinks,  and  I  agree  with  him,  that  it  will  be  well 
for  3'ou  to  give  to  the  Associated  Press  his  telegram  and  mine  to  you, 
referring  to  affairs  now  in  the  South.  J.  D.  CAMERON, 

"  Secretary  of  War." 

Of  the  vast,  open-jawed,  cavernous-bellied  nature  of  this  promise 


234  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

I  have  not  the  heart  or  the  time  to  discourse.  I  shall  content  myself 
with  imitating  the  discretion  of  Mr.  Rodman,  who,  returning  home 
one  night  full  of  tax-paid,  and  fearing  that  his  speech  would  betray 
him,  to  the  many  questions  of  his  wife  for  a  long  while  maintained  an 
obstinate  silence,  until  at  length  to  end  the  matter  he  solemnly  re- 
marked: "  Mrs.  Rodman,  you  know  I  am  a  man  of  few  words,  and  now 
I  am  plumb  done  talking.  "  That  subject  immediately  became  res 
adjtidicata.  I  am  done  talking  on  this  subject  so  well  calculated  to 
make  an  American  citizen  blush. 

The  arguments  made  by  the  opponents  of  these  bills,  especially 
those  of  the  veto  messages,  strike  me  with  a  good  deal  of  amazement. 
To  illustrate  their  absurdity  let  us  frame  them  into  the  semblance  of 
mathematical  propositions,  thus  : 

Proposition  first :  Theorem. — The  troops  of  the  United  States  are 
two  thousand  miles  away  on  the  frontier  and  could  not  be  used  to  con- 
trol elections  if  they  were  wanted. — Senator  from  Maine. 

The  troops  could  not  be  so  used  if  they  were  here,  as  the  law  for- 
bids it.     I  promise  not  to  use  them. — The  President. 

Hence  it  is  revolutionary  and  dangerous  to  liberty  and  the  purity 
of  elections  to  pass  this  bill  forbidding  such  use  of  troops. — Q.  E.  D. 

Corollary  first. — The  necessity  for  troops  at  the  polls  to  secure 
fair  elections  is  in  proportion  to  the  squares  of  the  distance  of  their 
present  location,  i.  e.,  the  greater  the  distance,  the  greater  the 
necessity. 

Corollary  second. — The  necessity  for  the  presence  of  troops  at  the 
polls  is  also  in  proportion  to  the  legal  inabilit}-  to  use  them  if  they 
were  present,  and  if  the  President  is  determined  not  to  use  them  at  all 
to  control  elections,  then  the  necessity  becomes  absolute. 

Corollary  third. — The  revolutionary  and  dangerous  character  of  a 
law  consists  in  the  fact  that  it  is  useless,  there  being  already  in  ex- 
istence laws  sufficient  to  effect  the  purpose. 

Scholium. — In  the  above  it  is  assumed  axiomatically  that  the  terms 
"liberty"  and  "purity  of  elections"  are  sj'nonymous  with  the  term 
"  Republican  part}'.  "     [Prolonged  laughter.] 

Proposition  second  :  Theorem. — The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or 
by  any  State  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  conditions  of  ser- 
vitude. 

Sec.  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  b}- 
appropriate  legislation. — The  fifteenth  amendment  quoted  by  the  Pres- 
ident. 

The  Supreme  Court  in  the  United  States  against  Cruikshank,  and  in 
Meyers  vs.  Happersett,  have  declared  that  the  only  right  guaranteed 
by  this  amendment  is  the  right  that  citizens  shall  not  be  discriminated 
against  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 
Hence  "  national  legislation  to  provide  safeguards  for  free  and  honest 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  235 


elections  is  necessary,  as  experience  has  shown,  not  only  to  secure  the 
r  'ht  to  vote  to  the  enfranchised  race  at  the  South,  but  also  to  prevent 
frtudulent  voting  in  the  large  cities  of  the  North."-The  Presulent. 

Corollary  first.-It  follows  that  if  John  Smith  gets  drunk  at  an 
election  in  North  Carolina  and  punches  a  negro's  head  he  immediately 
bv  1    esidential  logic,  becomes  the  State  of  North  Carolina  embodied 
in  the  flesh,  and  he,  or  it,  discriminates  against  the  said  negro  within 
the  meaning  of  the   Constitution  and   the  guarantee  is  called  for  at 


the  meaniu 
once 


Corollary  second.-If  it  be  a  white  man  whose  head  is  punched  by 
the  embodied  State-of-John-Smith-North-Carolina  it  is  ^  ;^-'^"°;"^- 
tion  all  the  same,  provided  the  said  white  man  was  about  to  vote  or 
had  voted  the  Republican  ticket,  that  being  the  true  meaning  and  inter- 
pretation    of    the    words     "race,    color,    and   previous    condition    of 

'""''corollary  third.-It  follows  necessarily,  that  if  a  New  York  repeater 
vote  the  Democratic  ticket  five  times  in  one  day,  he  becomes  likewise 
Ihe  creat  State  of  New  York  (including  the  Senator)  or  e  converso, 
the  great  State  of  New  York  becomes  the  repeater,  and  by  so  voting 
he  dlcriminates  (the  Lord  knows  how)  against  the  right  of  somebody 
(the  Lord  knows  who)  to  vote  on  account  of  race  color,  or  previous 
condition  of  servitude,  and  the  only  avenue  opened  up  by  which  this 
guarantee  can  be  enforced  is  to  send  in  the  Army  and  Johnny  Daven- 

^°''scholhim^-The  "  previous  condition  "  referred  to  in  the  foregoing 
is  that  of  "  Republicanism,"  and  implies  also  present  condition  ;  that 
is  being  a  "  Republican."  u-        •         v 

Scholium  second.-Enforciug  the  right  to  vote  by  soldiers  is  not 
an  "interference  with  elections."  .       .      ,,   ,  ^         1 

Scholium  third.-This  doctrine  of  "discrimination'  does  not  apply 
to  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  where  a  white  man's  right  to  vote  may 
be  freelv  abridged  on  account  of  his  present  condition  of  nnpecuniosity . 
Proposition  third:  Theorem.-"The  practice  of  tacldng  to  appro- 
priation bills  measures  not  pertinent  to  such  bills  did  not  prevai 
until  more  than  forty  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution^  It 
has  become  a  common  practice.  All  parties  when  m  power  have 
adopted  it.  The  public  welfare  will  be  promoted  in  many  ways  by  a 
return  to  the  early  practice  of  the  Government  and  the  true  principles 
of  legislation."— The  President. 

Sence  the  practice  of  tacking  legislation  to  appropriation  b^H^  bal- 
ing been  practiced  by  all  parties  for  more  than  fifty  years,  it  should  be 
mmediatelv  abandoned  when  disagreeable  to  the  President  or  incon- 
"e Int  to  the  party,  its  antiquity  not  being  sufficient  to  justify  it, 
thouc^h  greater  than  the  period  of  its  non-use. 

Corfllarv  first.-It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  practice  of  using 
troops  at  the  polls,  which  did  not  prevail  for  more  than  seventy -five 


236  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  should  now  become  of 
general  and  indispensable  use  ;  fourteen  A-ears  being  amph'  sufficient 
time  to  legalize  it,  and  being  now  absolutely  necessary  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Republican  party. 

Scholium. — For  the  piirposes  of  the  next  presidential  election 
fourteen  3'ears  of  military  interference  are  equal  to  seventy-five  years  of 
free  and  unrestrained  elections,  on  the  well-established  principle  "  that 
circumstances  alter  cases."  (The  Lawyer's  Bull  vs.  the  Farmer's  Ox, 
I  Webster's  El.  Spell.) 

N.  B. — It  is  said  on  high  authority  that  the  Secretar}-  of  War  and 
the  Secretary  of  State  once  held  this  problem  unsound,  but  were 
coerced  into  assenting  to  it  by  part}-  necessity.  But  quicn  sabe ! 
[Laughter.] 

So  much  for  the  absurd  deductions  which  may  be  logically  drawn 
from  the  premises  contained  in  the  veto  messages  and  the  arguments 
of  Senators. 

Now,  Mr.  President,  why  should  not  the  peace  at  the  polls  and  the 
purity  of  elections  be  intrusted  to  the  authority,  the  virtue,  and  the 
patriotism  of  the  States,  where  alone  our  fathers  placed  it  ?  Is  it  be- 
cause the  States  are  unable  with  their  civil  machinery  to  preserve  the 
peace  ?  They  have  invariably  proven  able  in  the  past  except  in  cases 
of  such  unusiial  violence  as  is  contemplated  in  the  Constitution,  article 
IV,  section  4.  Are  they  unwilling  ?  Surely  they  are  willing  to  pre- 
serve their  autonomy  and  perpetuate  their  own  existence.  Are  they 
corrupt  ?  Surely  if  their  inhabitants  as  citizens  of  the  States  are  too 
corrupt  for  self-government,  it  is  not  possible  that  their  virtue  should 
be  improved  and  their  corruptions  cease  the  moment  they  are  invested 
with  authority  by  the  United  States.  On  the  contrary-  there  is  always 
found  less  of  responsibility  and  more  of  corruption  in  aggregated  than 
in  separate  communities.  How  can  a  corrupt  State  officer  become  an 
incorruptable  Federal  officer  ? 

To  suppose  that  the  States  are  either  unable,  unwilling,  or  too  cor- 
rupt to  hold  peaceful  and  honest  elections,  is  to  declare  unmistakably 
that  the  people  thereof  are  incapable  of  self-government.  "  Let  each 
Senator  have  written  on  his  brow  what  he  thinks  of  the  Republic," 
said  the  Senator  from  New  York,  quoting  the  old  Roman.  So  sa}- 1. 
Let  each  Senator  say  for  himself  what  he  thinks  of  his  State  :  are  its 
people  incapable  of  self-government,  of  choosing  their  rulers  peace- 
ably and  honestly  ?  For  one,  I  can  say,  with  unspeakable  pride  and 
absolute  truth,  that  the  people  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  who  sent 
me  here  are  able,  willing,  and  virtuous  enough  to  fulfill  these  and  all 
the  other  high  functions  of  free  government ;  that  they  have  ever  done 
so  since  the  keels  of  Raleigh's  ships  first  grated  upon  the  white  sands 
of  her  shores  ;  and  God  helping  them,  they  and  their  children  will 
continue  to  do  so,  if  not  destroyed  by  centi^alization,  uutil  chaos  shall 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  237 

come  again.  It  is  with  extreme  sadness  that  I  hear  any  other  Sena- 
tor intimate  that  it  is  not  so  with  his  people. 

Mr.  President,  did  you  ever  consider  for  a  moment  the  manifold 
and  extraordinary  uses  to  which  we  are  subjecting  the  soldiers  ?  And 
did  you  ever  think  that  all  this  means,  in  fact,  the  failure  of  the  civil 
authority  ;  that  our  liberties  are  declining  more  and  more  as  we  em- 
ploy force  ?  Sir,  in  the  uses  to  which  we  put  the  soldiers  I  am 
reminded  of  what  I  read  about  the  bamboo  in  Asiatic  countries.  It  is 
said  the  natives  do  almost  everything  with  that  wonderful  arborescent 
grass.  When  young  and  tender  it  is  eaten  and  preserved  ;  it  is  made 
into  houses  and  boats,  astronomical  instruments,  ornamental  work, 
yards  of  vessels,  aqueducts,  rain-clocks,  water-wheels,  fence-ropes, 
chairs,  tables,  hats,  and  umbrellas,  fans,  pipes,  cups,  shields,  tool- 
handles,  lamp-wicks,  paper,  knives,  and  a  hundred  other  things.  In 
this  way  it  seems  to  me  that  we  are  forsaking  the  civil  functions  of 
our  institutions  and  utilizing  the  soldier. 

In  addition  to  their  legitimate  business  as  defenders  of  the  coun- 
try, we  have  made  of  them  Governors  of  States,  legislators,  organizers 
of  Legislatures  and  judges  of  the  election  and  qualifications  of  the 
members  thereof,  judges  of  law  and  equity  and  of  the  criminal  courts, 
policemen,  sheriffs,  marshals  and  deputy  marshals,  revenue  officers 
and  still  house  hunters,  managers  of  railroads,  controllers  of  churches 
and  of  schools,  justices  of  the  peace,  supervisors  of  election,  mathe- 
maticians to  see  a  fair  count,  protectors  of  witnesses,  foster-fathers  of 
returning  boards,  and  above  all,  as  Republican  propagandists.  In  the 
language  of  the  sewing-machine  companies,  "no  family  should  be  with- 
out one"  [laughter];  this  Republican  political  bamboo.  Is  there  no 
great  danger  ?  Does  it  not  indicate  the  decay  and  the  disuse  of  the  civil 
arm  of  the  law,  which  is  the  natural  and  only  safe  protector  of  our 
liberties  ?  Let  us,  sir,  discard  this  miserable  bamboo  policy  and  cease 
to  make  the  soldier  our  political  maid  of  all  work. 

Mr.  President,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  position  of  the  Republican 
party  in  reference  to  the  use  of  soldiers  and  supervisors  at  the  polls, 
on  the  pretense  of  preserving  the  peace  and  securing  free  elections,  is 
the  most  remarkable  one  that  reasonable  men  ever  assumed.  It  may 
be  formulated  thus  :  The  elections  shall  be  free  if  we  have  to  surround 
the  polls  with  bayonets;  the  elections  shall  be  according  to  the  laws  of 
the  States  if  we  have  to  overawe  the  civil  magistrates  and  State  officials 
by  an  exhibition  of  power  ;  the  elections  shall  be  pure  if  it  takes 
Davenport  and  all  the  convicted  criminals  and  occupants  of  all  the 
dens  of  infamy  in  our  great  cities  to  manage  them  ;  the  election  shall 
be  unforced  and  without  the  appearance  of  violence  if  a  battery  of 
artillerj-  has  to  be  trained  on  every  ballot-box  in  the  land  ;  and  lastly, 
the  election  shall  be  fair  if  we  have  to  arrest  without  warrant  and  im- 
prison without  bail,  until  the  elections  are  over,  every  man  who  offers 
to  vote' the  Democratic  ticket. 


238  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

The  speeches  of  Republican  Senators  mean  this,  the  vetoes  of  the 
President  mean  this,  and  they  mean  more  than  this,  Mr.  President  ; 
in  effect  they  say  that  unless  we  can  use  the  Army  at  the  polls,  we  will 
let  that  Army  dissolve  ;  we  will  leave  our  forts  and  arsenals  ungarri- 
soned  ;  we  will  strip  the  frontiers  of  all  protection,  and  let  the  men, 
women,  and  children  of  that  border  countr}-  be  slaughtered  and  scalped 
and  the  unchecked  savage  extend  his  barbarous  sway  over  all  that  land 
of  promise,  once  more  remitted  to  its  ancient  wilderness.  We  will  not 
only  do  this,  but  we  will  denounce  the  Democratic  members  of  Con- 
gress who  offered  u^  the  money  to  support  this  Army  as  the  authors 
of  this  disaster.  All  these  things  will  we  do  rather  than  lose  our  chances 
to  count  in  the  next  President,  and  we  will  cover  the  facts  and  ob- 
scure the  logic  of  the  case  by  reinflaming  the  bitter  prejudices  of  the 
war  in  the  hearts  of  our  constituents  !  Can  it  be  possible  to  do  this  ? 
Is  there  to  be  no  end  to  passion,  no  restoration  of  reason  ?  We  shall 
see. 

I  confess  that  I  do  not  believe  these  absurd  methods  of  dealing 
with  the  American  mind  can  much  longer  prevail.  I  regard  them  as 
the  desperate  efforts  of  a  sinking  party,  and  I  believe  the  people  will 
so  regard  them.  I  have  been  much  touched  by  the  affectionate  warn- 
ings given  us  by  the  other  side  that  we  were  ruining  ourselves  in  try- 
ing to  repeal  these  laws.  The  kind-hearted  Senator  from  Michigan 
notified  us  frankly  that  if  we  persisted  we  would  go  down  into  the 
waters  of  oblivion  to  rise  no  more  forever.  Pie  did  not  even  give  us  a 
chance  at  the  general  resurrection.  [Laughter.]  It  seemed  to  dis- 
tress him,  and  if  I  thought  it  was  true  prophecy,  I  would  freel}-  mingle 
my  tears  with  his  at  the  contemplation  of  so  dire  a  calamity.  Candor 
compels  me,  however,  to  acknowledge  that  I  cannot  reciprocate  his 
charity.  If  I  thought  the  Republican  party  were  standing  upon  the 
brink  of  a  precipice,  beneath  which  seethed  those  cold  waters  of  obliv- 
ion, instead  of  warning  them,  I  pledge  you  my  word  I  would  try  to 
induce  them  to  step  over  the  edge;  in  fact,  I  might  lend  them  a  push. 
[Laughter.]  At  least,  I  should  feel  as  indifferent  about  it  as  the 
lodger  at  an  inn  did,  who  was  awakened  in  the  night  when  the  meteors 
were  falling,  and  told  that  the  day  of  judgment  had  come.  "Well, 
well,"  said  he,  testily,  "tell  the  landlord  about  it;  I  am  only  a  boarder." 
[Laughter.] 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  if  the  breath  was  about  to  leave  my  body 
and  I  was  permitted  to  say  but  one  word  as  to  what  my  country  most 
needed,  that  word  should  be.  Rest !  Rest  from  strife,  rest  from  sec- 
tional conflict,  rest  from  sectional  bitterness,  rest  from  inflammatory 
appeals,  rest  from  this  constant,  most  unwise,  and  unprofitable  agita- 
tion. Rest  in  all  the  lands  and  in  all  literature  is  used  as  the  symbol 
of  the  most  perfect  state  of  felicity  which  mankind  can  attain  in  this 
world  and  the  next.  "And  the  land  had  rest,'''  said  the  old  Hebrew 
chroniclers  iu  describing  the  reign  of  their  good  kings;  "and  his  rest 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  ^39 

of   our  Lord,  when  Ephnam   should  have  ceased   toe      yj 

^""rr;t.srirrc*:r:"sr;-.ace  .>«„  t.e ..».,  a.  at 

saith  the  apostle.     Can  we  not  g.ve  r    t  to  -r  peop.e  •  ^^,^^ 

President,  tliat  those  from  whom  I  come  desire  it  aoov 

The  excitement  through   which  we   have  passed  to^i^'^^''     J 

years,  the  suffering  and  the  -""-^^^-^^f^^  '^Curindesc'rihahi; 
which  they  have  nndergone  have  filled  their  heart  ^^^^^ 

yearnings  for  national  peace,  for  a  ""'P''^'^.  7'.'',  f  J^^^e    to  efiect 
restoration  of  the  Union .     There  is  one  P°l-3'.  a  d  If^-  ^ 

*^°r^^"'  "td  ttte  Oe'mL"  ItL  l.t ^n  ^pecple  of  the  North. 
T^  :;;u"^rL*:sma:sWp  for  our  condition  the  oi.y  geninne 
remedy  for  ke  hard  times  with  which  we  -^;«-'=f  ^  J;  J  e" "I's. 
where  teaches  it,  and  her  thousand  "K'^^'^'f-'^l^th  and  night 
constantly  inculcate  it,  even  as  day  ^"''l^"'^^ ^"1^,,^  flows 
nnto  night  .showeth  Unow  e  g.     ^"^ ',^    .^.f  „7oa-watered  Vir- 

by  o-'=''P'"'=''<'=^;;f  J°  ^^"^      DcLe  forests  of  young  saplings 
ginia.     You  can  scarce  find  them,     ucns 

Ler  an  the  hiUs  and  plains  ^^^^  X^l^^:^.  ^^  ^^  ^^  ^^ 
ing  and  encamping  armies.  ^"^the  tender  branch  thereof  will  not 
down  that  it  will  sprout  again,  and  ^^^  ^^^  ^J^^^  ^^  1,,,^  plo.ved 
cease."  Waving  seas  of  wheat  cover  t^- J-  f J^f^  ^  ^^1,  /^hock; 
by  the  bursting  shells  while  ^^/f  ^f.^  f  :^/°:  ^^ncV^  as'to  give 
and  green  grass  has  so  covered  \^^^\"^;^°;,;^  [^^,3.  Restoration  is 
them  all  the  seeming  of  ^  ^  ^^""^  .^^U  ^,'  '^^^^^^  g.ace,  may  not 
nature's  law;  let  us  imitate  her.  God  of  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^  f ^  ^,  ^.^H  ? 
these  gaping  wounds  of  civil  war  be  permitted  to  heal,      they 

No  one  not  a  lover  of  the  South,  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  and  civilization,  of  justice  and  fair  play;  no  o:ie  but  a 
bl  hearted,  big  brain  man;  nobody  but  Vance  could  be  the 
author  of  the  following  speech,  delivered  m  the  Senate 
Jammry  30,  1890. 

Mr   Vance-Mr.  President,  in  accordance  with  the  notice  which  I 
have  1  ereXe  given,  I  ash  leave  to  niahe  a  fe-e-^^--  *^  '"" 

— dir  ihei  -  srj  :^^;^t:  orcotn;rth-^L;- 

^'''Mr.  Vance-Mr.  President,  one  of  the  earliest  recorded  utterances 


240  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

of  inspiration  is,  that  the  sins  of  the  fathers  are  visited  upon  the  chihl- 
dren.  This  is  another  way  of  saying  that  the  mistakes  of  one  generation 
endure  to  plague  another. 

Several  hundred  years  ago  this  fair  land  of  ours,  which  it  would 
seem  God  had  specially  intended  for  the  chosen  seat  of  liberty  and  the 
noblest  development  of  man,  was  desecrated  by  the  introduction  of 
human  slavery.  The  serpent  thus  entered  into  our  political  Eden. 
The  great  forests  which  covered  the  face  of  the  earth  called  for  labor 
to  remove  them,  for  more  labor  than  the  slowly  coming  immigration 
of  the  free  races  afforded.  The  morals  of  the  age  justified  the  holding 
of  barbarous  races  in  bondage.  The'  favorite  place  for  obtaining 
bondsmen  was  the  African  coast.  So  desirable  did  the  supplying  of 
the  newly  discovered  islands  and  continents  of  the  .West  with  cheap 
labor  appear,  that  old  Joseph  Hawkins  was  knighted  by  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, as  much  for  his  successful  introduction  of  a  cargo  of  slaves  into 
the  West  Indies,  as  for  his  exploits  against  the  Spaniards.  Even  so 
great  and  good  a  man  as  Las  Casas,  the  Spanish  apostle  to  the  Indians, 
once  advocated  the  introduction  of  African  slavery. 

First  and  foremost  in  this  calamitous  and  iniquitous  traffic  was 
New  England.  In  fact,  so  anxious  were  the  good  people  of  those  col- 
onies for  slaves  that  the)'  reduced  to  bondage  the  native  Indians  whom 
they  captured  in  war,  and,  not  imfrequently,  those  wicked  people  of 
their  own  race  and  blood  who  were  guilty  of  differing  from  them  in 
religious  opinions. 

The  tobacco-growing  colonies  of  the  South  soon  followed  suit  in 
the  importation  of  African  slaves,  and  early  found  how  profitable  this 
cheap  and  involuntary  labor  was  in  the  raising  of  their  great  staple. 
The  introduction  of  the  cultivation  and  t:ses  of  cotton  soon  gave  a  fur- 
ther impetus  to  slaveholding,  and  made  the  chief  prosperity  of  all  the 
Southern  regions  to  depend  mainly  upon  this  enforced  labor.  Whilst 
the  want  of  profitable  returns  gradually  lessened  the  hold  of  the  North 
upon  slavery,  its  great  profits  constantly  increased  that  hold  upon  the 
South. 

The  stony  and  sterile  fields  of  New  England  called  for  manufac- 
tures and  commerce.  That  commerce  consisted  very  largely  in 
purchasing  slaves  on  the  African  coast,  and  selling  them  to  Southern 
planters.  Thus  their  interests  constantly  drifted  the  Northern  and 
Southern  people  apart  in  regard  to  African  slavery.  After  a  time  it 
ceased  to  exist  altogether  in  the  North,  by  reason  of  emancipation 
laws  made  to  take  effect  at  fixed  periods,  and  by  their  sales  to  their 
Southern  neighbors.  By  this  time  the  wrongfulness  of  holding  slaves 
fully  dawned  upon  the  conscience  of  the  Northern  people.  Its  prickings 
became  so  active  that  they  not  only  deemed  it  a  sin  to  hold  a  slave 
themselves,  but  to  permit  anybody  else  to  hold  one,  even  though  there 
war,  no  responsibility  whatever  upon  them  for  the  transgression. 

They  even  went  so  far  in  obeying  the  dictates  of  conscience,  that 


LIFR   OF   VANCE.  241 

the)-  did  not  hesitate  to  stand  up  boldly  in  the  sight  of  God,  with  the 
purchase  money  in  their  pockets,  and  denounce  the  vengeance  of 
heaven  against  their  Southern  neighbors  for  holding  on  to  the  negro 
which  they  themselves  had  sold  them. 

Every  requisite  to  the  effectual  working  of  a  good  conscience  was 
present.  Slaveholding  was  not  only  unprofitable,  as  has  been  said, 
upon  their  soil  and  in  their  climate,  but  the  lucrative  trade  of  supply- 
ing the  Southern  planters  was  abolished  by  the  Constitution.  In 
addition  to  this  their  sense  of  rectitude  was  unpardonably  offended  by 
the  contemplation  of  the  well-doing  of  their  neighbors.  Of  course, 
men  who  burnt  witches,  banished  or  enslaved  Quakers,  and  had  made 
fortunes  by  the  horrors  of  ' '  the  middle  passage, ' '  could  not  be  expected 
to  tolerate  any  longer  the  ungodly  thing  which  brought  fortunes  to 
to  Virginia  and  Carolina  planters.  With  ever  increasing  bitterness 
this  conscientious  crusade  was  kept  up  with  an  extravagance  of  language 
which  scrupled  not  to  denounce  the  Constitution  itself;  which  respected 
the  slaveholders'  rights  under  State  laws,  as  "a  league  with  death  and 
a  covenant  with  hell."  The  inevitable  result  is  fresh  in  our  recollec- 
tion. It  ultimately  led  to  civil  war  in  which  more  than  a  million  lives 
were  lost  and  more  than  three  billions  of  property  destroyed,  and  as 
much  of  indebtedness  incurred.     The  slaves  were  set  free. 

Those  of  us  in  the  South  who  had  deprecated  the  war  and  deplored 
the  agitation  which  led  to  it,  as  we  sat  in  the  ashes  of  our  own  homes 
and  scraped  ourselves  with  the  potsherds  of  desolation,  5'et  consoled 
ourselves  for  the  slaughter  of  our  kindred  and  the  devastation  of  our 
fields  by  the  reflection  that  this,  at  least,  was  the  end  ;  that  the  great 
original  wrong  committed  by  our  fathers  had  at  last  been  attoned  for  ; 
that  the  Union  having  been  declared  indissoluble,  and  slavery  forever 
abolished,  the  one  great  stumbling  block  and  stone  of  offense  was 
removed,  and  the  people  of  these  American  States,  henceforth  homo- 
geneous, could  pursue  their  great  destiny  harmoniously  and  fraternally. 

How  little  we  knew  the  temper  of  the  victors  in  that  great  struggle. 
We  made  no  calculation  for  the  fact  that  the  necessities  of  party- 
supremacy  would  lead  men  as  far  as  even  the  prickings  of  conscience 
for  an  unprofitable  sin  had  done.  No  sooner  had  we  fairly  witnessed 
the  end  of  hostilities  before  acts  of  Congress  were  passed  directing 
the  subversion  of  all  law  and  civil  governments  in  the  States  of  the 
South,  under  cover  of  which  they  were  divided  into  military  districts, 
over  each  of  which  was  placed  a  general  of  the  army,  supported  by 
sufficient  troops.  To  these  generals  and  their  bayonets  was  committed 
the  task  of  forming  governments  for  the  people  of  these  overthrown 
States.  This  they  did  by  holding  elections  under  military  control,  bj' 
suppressing  the  vote  of  every  free  white  man  in  those  States,  who, 
having  at  any  time  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  had  afterwards  done  any  act  in  aid  of  the  rebellion,  and 
by  thrusting  with  military  force  upon  the  ballot-box  the  entire  mass  of 

17 


242  UFE   OF   VANCE. 

emancipated  slaves,  to  whom  the  right  to  vote  had  been  given  by  no 
law,  human  or  divine,  known  to  our  federative  system.  By  the  con- 
stitution thus  forced  upon  the  Southern  people  the  negroes  were  made 
voters  and  invested  with  the  like  privileges  in  all  respects  as  the  white 
people. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  had  in  like  manner  been  so 
amended  as  to  forbid  the  States  from  making  any  discrimination 
against  the  negro  race,  or  in  any  manner  impairing  the  rights  v»hich 
had  thus  been  conferred  upon  them.  Again,  we  in  the  South  thought 
we  had  arrived  at  the  end  of  our  troubles  connected  with  the  negro 
question.  Surely,  we  reasoned,  as  the  colored  man  is  now  free,  as  he 
is  made  by  law,  State  and  Federal,  equal  with  the  white  man  in  all 
respects,  and  has-been  given  the  ballot  to  protect  himself  in  these 
rights,  surely  the  matter  will  now  be  at  rest.  We  can  close  the  chasm 
which  the  agitation  about  him  has  created  between  us  and  our  North- 
ern neighbors.  Again,  were  we  sadly  mistaken.  After  forty  years  of 
bitter  agitation,  four  years  of  bloody  war,  and  near  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury more  of  trial  under  the  new  order  of  things,  the  negro  again 
"bobs  up  serenely,"  and  for  his  sake  we  are  to-day  threatened  not 
only  with  a  political  agitation  sufficiently  disastrous  within  itself,  but 
with  a  servile  war  whose  weapons  shall  be  the  midnight  torch  and 
the  assassin's  dagger,  and  whose  victims  shall  be  sleeping  women  and 
children. 

This  agitation  and  this  threatened  war  is  to  arise  from  one  of  two 
facts:  Either  the  friends  of  the  negro  in  the  North  are  disappointed 
because  their  well-laid  schemes  of  reconstruction  failed  to  secure  the 
Republican  part}'  any  aid  from  the  Southern  States,  or  because  their 
reasonable  expectations  and  hopes  as  to  the  colored  man's  capacity 
for  helping  himself  and  for  governing  others  have  been  grievously 
wrecked. 

The  Senator  from  Kansas,  in  his  speech  a  few  days  ago,  indig- 
nantly denied  the  former  assertion,  and  put  the  action  of  his  friends 
altogether  upon  the  high  ground  of  benevolent  pa.triotism.  He  was 
so  candid  in  admitting  the  fault  of  his  people  for  the  introduction  of 
slavery  into  this  country,  and  for  its  retention  in  the  North  until  it 
ceased  to  be  profitable,  that  I  was  in  hopes  to  hear  him  admit  with 
equal  candor  that  the  whole  scheme  of  reconstruction  was  intended 
for  partisan  Republican  purposes.  I  concede  this  to  him,  however, 
and  candidly  admit  that  he  does  so  believe  and  that,  perhaps,  he  is  the 
only  sane  man  in  Europe  or  America  who  is  of  this  opinion.  Taking 
it,  then,  upon  his  ground,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the  truth  compelled 
him  to  say: 

"But  it  can  no  longer  be  denied  that  suffrage  and  citizenship  have 
hitherto  not  justified  the  anticipations  of  those  by  whom  they  were 
conferred.  They  have  not  been  effective  in  the  hands  of  the  f reed- 
man,  either  for  attack  or  defense." 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  243 

111  other  words,  here  is  a  frank  admission  that  twenty-five  years  of 
freedom  and  nearly  as  much  of  citizenship  has  proven  a  lamentable 
failure.  It  is  true  that  he  says  the  whites  in  the  South  are  to  blame 
for  it  ;  that  they  have  employed  force,  violence,  and  fraud,  of  which  I 
will  say  more  hereafter.  I  will  only  now  make  this  suggestion  :  If  it 
be  true  that  in  States  where  they  largely  outnumber  the  whites  they 
are  either  intimidated  from  voting  or  are  defrauded  in  the  counting  of 
their  votes,  is  not  that  a  strong  argument  against  their  supposed  ca- 
pacity for  self-government  ?  Are  a  people  fit  to  govern  themselves 
and  others  who  would  suffer  themselves  thus  to  be  treated  ?  Is  any 
man  worthy  of  freedom  who  requires  constantly  to  be  tutored  and 
protected  in  its  exercise  ?  Is  a  man  fitted  to  run  a  race  who  has  to  be 
held  up  in  order  that  he  may  walk  ?  I  have,  indeed,  heard  of  a  beef 
which  had  to  be  held  up  in  order  to  be  knocked  down  to  fill  an  army 
contract,  but  I  have  not  known  men  fit  for  freedom  who  would  be  de- 
terred from  its  exercise  in  the  face  of  inferior  numbers.  Is  there 
anything  in  the  sentiment  of  the  poet  who  says  : 

"Hereditary  bondsmen,  know  ye  not 
Who  would  be  free,  themselves 
Must  strike  the  blow  ?" 

The  Senator  says:  "That  no  other  people  on  the  face  of  this  earth 
have  ever  submitted  to  the  wrongs,  the  injustice  which  have  been  for 
twenty-five  years  heaped  upon  the  colored  men  of  the  South,  without 
revolution  and  blood." 

More  than  once  this  is  repeated.  It  constitutes  the  burden  of  his 
speech,  around  which  is  clustered  the  brightest  display  of  rhetorical 
p3'rotechnics  ever  employed  to  conceal  a  paucity  of  ideas  by  the  gor- 
geousness  of  phraseology.  This  rhetorical  display  across  the  forensic 
heavens  reminded  me  forcibly  of  an  astronomer's  description  of  the 
remarkable  tenuity  of  the  tail  of  a  certain  comet.  He  said  that  its 
length  was  a  hundred  million  miles  as  it  stretched  athwart  the  skies — 
that  its  breadth  was  50,000  miles — and  yet  the  solid  matter  which  it 
contained  could  be  condensed  and  transported  in  a  one-horse  cart.  I 
listened  and  listened  with  the  greatest  entertainment  to  that  speech, 
and  searched  and  wondered  where  the  remedy  for  the  evil  was  and 
when  it  would  be  announced,  and  when  I  should  see  the  solid  matter 
of  the  illumination.  Suddenly,  before  the  light  expired  and  we  were 
left  in  darkness,  he  announced  that  the  solution  was  justice,  which, 
however  sententious  it  might  be,  was  about  as  definite  and  real  as  the 
twinkling  which  remain  under  the  closed  eyelids  after  the  withdrawal 
of  a  fierce  light. 

Justice,  as  he  explains  it,  means  our  submission  to  negro  rule. 
Plaving  submitted  to  this  for  so  long  a  time  as  he  thinks  would  be  fair, 
should  it  prove  a  failure  he  graciously  promises  that  he  will  then  con- 
sult with  us  about  some  other  solution  of  the  problem  ! 


244  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

What  are  the  facts  which  support  this  grandiose  slander  of  an  en- 
tire people  ?  What  wrongs  and  injustice  have  been  done  by  the  South- 
ern people  to  these  negroes  that  call  for  the  "use  of  the  torch  and  the 
dagger  ?"  They  have  been  given  the  right  of  suffrage,  not  by  the  free 
action  of  the  Southern  whites,  I  admit,  but  at  least  by  their  reluctant 
assent.  Since  their  admission  to  citizenship  they  have  been  elected  to 
both  branches  of  Congress  and  have  occupied  almost  every  position 
under  State  authority.  They  have  controlled  entire  States,  counties, 
and  municipalities,  and  in  every  instance  their  rule  was  marked  by 
failure  and  ruin.  It  was  a  war  against  property,  intelligence,  and  re- 
spectability. The  few  years  of  their  misrule  in  the  vSouth  will  be 
forever  remembered  in  our  history  for  their  corruption  and  retrogres- 
sion, and  will  constitute  a  damnable  blot  on  the  memory  of  those  who 
authorized  it,  and  who  looked  on  with  complacency  so  long  as  the 
thieves  were  Republicans  and  the  victims  were  Democrats. 

Whilst  ever  they  could  hold  the  throttled  State  in  the  Republican 
ranks,  and  send  mongrels  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
to  strengthen  Republican  hands  against  "the  cowardly  and  degraded 
element  in  the  North  that  sympathized  with  treason,"  not  a  word  of 
protest  was  heard  from  that  entire  party  of  justice  and  modest  right- 
eousness. But  as  soon  as  this  corrupt  and  incompetent  rule  had 
wrought  its  inevitable  results  and  had  been  overthrown  by  the  union 
of  all  the  best  elements  in  the  South,  aided  by  the  superior  knowledge 
of  the  superior  race,  then  began  the  complaints  of  vSouthern  outrages 
and  injustice.  It  is  all  very  well  to  deny  now  that  the  whole  object 
of  reconstruction  was  partisan  advantage,  and  to  claim  that  the  motive 
was  patriotic.  It  is  but  the  natural  verification  of  the  saying  of  old 
Samuel  Johnston,  that  "patriotism  is  the  last  refuge  of  a  scoundrel." 
All  the  world  knows  why  citizenship  was  given  to  the  negro  and  the 
reason  of  the  bitter  disappointment  which  is  everywhere  confessed  at 
its  results. 

There  is  surely  here  no  outrage  against  the  negro  that  calls  for 
revolution  and  blood.  The  wrong  was  against  the  white  man,  and  was 
redressed  by  him  without  revolution.  In  obedience  to  the  Constitution 
the  Southern  States  admitted  the  colored  citizens  to  a  full  participation 
in  all  the  legal  rights  enjoyed  by  white  citizens.  They  were  placed  in 
the  jury-box,  commissioned  as  magistrates,  permitted  to  form  com- 
panies in  the  volunteer  militia,  duly  commissioned  and  armed.  School 
houses  were  built  for  them  and  normal  schools  established  for  the  ed- 
ucation of  their  teachers,  whilst  the  school  fund  of  the  States  was  ap- 
portioned to  their  schools,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  with  all 
possible  fairness.  Asylums  were  built  for  the  care  of  their  insane, 
deaf,  dumb  and  blind,  wherein  they  receive  the  same  treatment  as  the 
whites.  The  taxes  for  all  this  were  levied  by  white  legislators  on  their 
white  constituents,  who  paid  at  least  95  per  cent,  of  the  total  out  of  the 
little' which  thc'negroes  and  carpet-baggers  had  left  them.     If  there  be 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  245 

any  wronjr,  injustice,  in  all  this,  it  can  surely  be  seen  only  by  that  in- 
tellectual vision  which,  "reaching  far  as  angels  ken,"  beholds  no 
motives  for  the  preservation  of  Republican  supremac}'  in  reconstruc- 
tion, but  only  patriotic  benevolence. 

Since  the  restoration  of  the  South  to  the  control  of  its  own  people 
the  progress  and  prosperity  of  the  negroes  have  been  as  great  as,  if  not 
greater  than,  in  any  other  country  where  his  race  exists.  His  increase 
in  numbers  has  been  phenomenal,  and  furnishes  ample  proof  that  he 
is  fed,  clothed  and  sheltered.  The  decrease  of  the  death  rate,  of  crim- 
inal convictions,  and  of  illiteracy,  taken  with  the  gradual  and  unfailing 
increase  of  his  wealth,  w^hich  is  abundantly  proven  by  the  statistics,  all 
give  the  lie  flatly  to  the  oft-repeated  story  of  oppression  and  wrong  un- 
der which  he  suffered  or  is  said  to  suffer.  The  truth  is,  he  began  to 
prosper  when  the  whites  took  control. '  Progress  for  him  would  have 
been  as  impossible  under  his  own  rule  as  it  was  for  the  whites.  Ten 
years  more  of  such  government  as  reconstruction  fixed  upon  the  South 
would  have  made  that  fairest  portion  of  the  American  continent  a 
howling  wilderness.  In  short,  it  would  have  been  Africanized,  a  fate 
which  even  the  Senator  from  Kansas  says  is  "not  desirable  ;  "  which 
taken  in  connection  with  his  opening  remarks  on  the  danger  of  "  blood- 
poisoning  "  by  the  adulteration  of  races,  means  much  more  than  ap- 
pears on  the  surface.  The  best  thing,  then,  that  could  have  been  done 
for  the  negro  was  that  which  was  done  when  the  management  of  public 
affairs  was  taken  from  inexperienced  and  incapable  hands  and  placed 
with  the  natural  and  competent  rulers  of  the  land. 

Where,  then,  I  ask  again,  does  the  outrage  on  the  colored  man 
come  in  ? 

The  Senator  makes  no  complaint  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the 
overthrow  of  reconstruction.     He  says  : 

"  Until  1877  the  unstable  fabric  erected  by  the  architects  of  recon- 
struction was  upheld  by  the  military  of  the  United  States,  and  when 
this  was  withdrawn  the  incongruous  edifice  toppled  headlong  and  van- 
ished away  as  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision.  It  disappeared  in  cruel 
and  ferocious  convulsions  which  form  one  of  the  most  shameful  and 
shocking  of  all  the  bloody  tragedies  of  history.  The  attempt  to  reor- 
ganize society  upon  the  basis  of  numbers  failed." 

Perhaps  the  Senator  alludes  to  the  stealing  of  the  Presidency  by 
his  party,  which  happened  in  that  year  and  which,  though  both  shame- 
ful and  shocking,  and  in  which  the  attempt  to  reorganize  society  on 
the  basis  of  numbers  did  to  a  certain  extent  fail,  I  did  not  know  was 
properly  characterized  as  a  bloody  traged)'. 

It  is,  however,  an  unequivocal  admission  that  the  reconstruction 
edifice  was  unstable  and  incongruous — mild  terms  indeed  for  this  most 
infernal  episode  in  our  history  ;  that  it  was  upheld  alone  by  military 
power,  and  disappeared  when  that  power  was  withdrawn.  No  wrong 
upon  the  negro  appears  there.     It  seems  that  these  intolerable  outrages, 


246  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

to  which  no  other  people  on  earth  have  submitted  so  long,  are  supposed 
somehow  to  exist  in  the  fact  that  the  overthrow  of  this  incongruous 
structure — the  creature  of  military  force — has  been  followed  by  the 
maintaining  on  the  part  of  the  whites  of  the  advantage  which  they 
gained  by  its  downfall.  "In  that  struggle  he  says  that  education, 
wealth,  political  experience,  land-ownership  in  the  South,  all  conspired 
against  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  that  they 
emerged  from  that  dreadful  conflict  in  full  possession  of  all  the  powers 
of  the  States,  and  no  serious  effort  has  been  made  to  deprive  them  of 
their  guilty  acquisition."  I  beg  to  remind  the  Senator,  however,  that 
many  guilty  efforts  have  been  made  to  deprive  them  of  their  serious 
acquisition. 

But,  inasmuch  as  the  powers  of  the  States  are  recognized  by  the 
Constitution,  it  is  strange  that  the  possession  of  them  by  their  citizens 
should  be  held  to  be  a  violation  of  the  Constitution. 

But  the  taking  and  keeping  possession  of  the  powers  of  the  States 
seems  to  be  the  wrong  inflicted  upon  the  colored  man.  The  gravamen 
of  that  wrong  is  that  the  negro  can  no  longer  send  here  Republican 
Senators  and  Representatives  from  the  South  and  the  votes  of  Repub- 
lican electoral  colleges  to  aid  in  the  manufacture  of  Republican  Presi- 
dents. There  are  many  errors  of  assiimption  required  to  make  up  this 
supposed  wrong.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  assumed  that  the  vote  is  sup- 
pressed on  the  ground  that  every  colored  man  is  a  Republican.  Next, 
it  is  assumed  that  every  colored  Republican  is  necessarih-  incapable  of 
being  influenced  or  beguiled  bj^  the  arts  of  the  electioneerer,  and  will 
always  cast  his  ballot  for  the  Republican  nominees.  They  who  reason 
thus  go  to  the  census  tables  and  ascertain  the  number  of  negro  voters 
of  qualified  age,  the  number  of  white  voters  likewise,  and  then  estimate 
what  their  majorities  ought  to  be. 

The  discovery  of  a  colored  Democratic  vote  in  the  ballot-box  is 
accepted  2iS  prima  facie  evidence  of  fraud.  If  those  majorities  are  not 
forthcoming,  they  conclude  that  the  vote  of  their  friends  has  been 
suppressed.  They  forget  what  influences  even  one  portion  of  our  own 
people  can  exert  over  another  ;  much  less  do  they  remember  how  much 
more  easily  the  united,  superior  race,  with  all  its  intelligence,  wealth, 
and  power,  can  influence  the  action  of  a  race  so  far  inferior  and  still  in 
the  shadow  of  the  bondage  from  which  they  have  been  withdrawn. 

Neither  has  it  entered  into  the  consideration  of  the  people  of  the 
North  to  place  any  stress  upon  the  fact  that  there  did  exist,  and  still 
exists,  between  the  former  owner  and  the  present  freedman  many  of 
those  kindly  and  controlling  relations  which  existed  between  master 
and  slave.  It  must  be  remembered  that,  in  addition  to  his  ignorance 
and  inexperience  of  affairs,  the  colored  man  still  leans  iipon  and  looks 
to  his  former  master  for  direction  and  [advice — universally  so  in  all 
matters  except  politics  ;  that  he  is  almost  always  either  the  tenant  or 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  247 

the  employe  of  the  white  man,  and  that  white  man  belongs  to  a  race 
which  the  Senator  from  Kansas  says  is  the 

"Most  arrogant  and  rapacions,  the  most  exclusive  and  indomitable 
in  history.  It  is  the  conquering  and  the  unconquerable  race,  through 
which  alone  man  has  taken  possession  of  the  physical  and  moral  world. 
To  our  race  humanity  is  indebted  for  religion,  for  literature,  for  civi- 
lization. It  has  a  genius  for  conquest,  for  politics,  for  jurisprudence, 
and  for  administration.  *  *  *  All  other  races  have  been  its  ene- 
mies or  its  victims." 

Is  it  possible  that  such  a  race  of  men  as  this  can  not,  without 
brutal  violence  or  detestable  fraud,  maintain  its  supremacy  over  such 
a  race  as  the  negro  ?  Is  it  statesmanlike  to  assume  that  it  can  legiti- 
mately have  no  influence,  exert  no  force  over  the  weaker  and  more 
ignorant  ?  Are  there  not  undisputed  facts  sufficient  to  justify  reason- 
ino^  men  everywhere  in  doubting  the  truth  of  these  stories  of  outrage 
and  wrong  ?  For  example,  I  am  glad  to  say  that  North  Carolina  is 
one  of  the  States  in  the  South  where  there  is  least  complaint  of  in- 
frin^^ements  of  the  colored  man's  rights,  either  at  the  ballot-box  or  in 
the  courts  of  justice. 

The  State  of  Mississippi  is  one  of  the  States  of  the  South  where 
the  complaints  on  behalf  of  the  colored  man  are  loudest  and  most  ve- 
hement; yet  for  six  months  past  the  negroes  in  eastern  North  Caro- 
lina have  been  voluntarily  moving  at  the  rate  perhaps  of  three  or  four 
thousand  per  month  to  this  very  State  of  Mississippi.  They  are  not 
going  to  Kansas  or  to  any  other  Northern  State,  but  to  Mississippi,  pre- 
sumably for  the  purpose  of  having  their  votes  suppressed  and  of  be- 
ing slaughtered— to  Arkansas  and  to  Texas.  The  fact  is,  they  are  in- 
fluenced^'like  other  people,  by  the  great  economic  law  of  supply  and  • 
demand.  For  two  or  three  years  past  eastern  North  Carolina  has  suf- 
fered from  a  failure  of  the  crops,  and  the  planters  of  Mississippi  are 
offering  the  negroes  better  wages  than  the  Carolina  planters  can  afford 
to  pay,  and  the  chief  agents  employed  by  the  Mississippians  for  effect- 
ing their  contracts  are  intelligent  educated  negro  men,  many  of  them 

preachers. 

Evidently  they  do  not  believe  these  stories  that  are  served  up  for 
campaign,  political  purposes  here.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood 
in  this  matter.  That  there  are  instances  of  mistreatment  and  occasion- 
ally of  cruelty  to  the  negroes  now  and  then  occurring  in  the  South  I  can- 
didly admit  and  regret.  The  millennium  has  not  yet  arrived  in  the 
land  of  reconstruction;  the  reign  of  perfect  righteousness,  of  absolute 
justice,  has  not  yet  been  established  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line, 
though  of  course  it  is  in  full  operation  just  north  of  that  imaginary 
division.  There  there  is  no  suppression  of  the  popular  vote  by  jerry- 
mander or  otherwise;  there  there  is  no  purchase  of  the  floating  vote 
in  blocks  of  five,  no  ejectment  of  colored  children  from.white  schools 
or  colored  men  from   theaters  and  barber  chairs,  and  where  we  may 


248  LIFE   OK  VANCE. 

hope  that,  in  the  process  of  time  and  in  the  spread  of  intelligence  and 
increased  appreciation  of  the  virtues  of  the  negroes,  one  black  man 
may  soon  be  sent  to  Congress  from  the  North  ;  that  some  railroad 
attorney  or  millionaire  will  make  room  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  for  the  colored  brother  ;  that  one  colored  postmaster  for  a  white 
town  may  be  appointed  in  the  North  ;  that  in  the  State  of  Kansas,  the 
soil  so  prolific  in  friendships  for  the  colored  man,  a  respectable  negro, 
duly  nominated  on  the  Republican  ticket,  may  receive  the  full  vote  of 
his  party,  and  not  be  scratched  almost  to  the  point  of  defeat  by  those 
who  love  him,  as  he  was  in  Topeka  ;  that  one  accomplished  colored 
man  may  be  sent  abroad  to  represent  his  country  in  some  other  land 
than  Hayti  or  Liberia. 

Let  us  hope  even  that  the  great  Republican  party  of  the  North 
may  find  the  colored  man  fit  to  s.erve  his  country  in  some  other  region 
than  the  South  and  this  great  dumping-ground  of  political  dead-beats, 
the  District  of  Columbia,  upon  whose  helpless  people  has  heretofore 
been  billeted,  in  all  the  offices  from  the  judiciary  down,  every  worn-out 
partisan  for  whom  his  people  at  home  had  no  more  use.  Nay,  under 
the  appeals  against  the  injustice  of  suppressing  the  colored  vote  which 
we  daily  hear,  it  would  be  a  rapture  of  hope  to  express  the  belief  that 
these  great  apostles  of  justice  would  restore  the  right  of  suffrage  to 
the  225,000  people  of  this  District,  from  whom  it  was  taken  on  the 
well  known  ground  that  the  negro  vote  was  about  t,o  prove  here  an 
inconvenience.  It  might  be  replied,  technically,  that  the  injustice  of 
suppressing  votes  depended  upon  the  color  of  the  voter,  and  that  it 
was  not  an  outrage  to  suppress  white  votes  ;  or,  again,  that  it  was  no 
injustice  to  the  franchise  to  suppress  the  vote  by  law  on  account  of 
ignorance,  nativity,  or  poverty,  as  so  long  prevailed  in  Rhode  Island 
and  Massachusetts.  But  I  positively  deny  that  there  is  any  system- 
atic, authorized,  or  official  interference  with  the  guarantied  rights  of 
the  colored  man  in  the  South  ! 

I  positively  aver  that  these  constitutional  obligations  concerning 
the  colored  people  are  observed  in  good  faith  and  that  all  individual 
infringements  upon  them  are  as  much  deprecated  by  the  majority  of 
our  people  as  similar  violations  of  law  are  deprecated  in  the  North, 
and  their  perpetrators  are  punished  l)y  our  courts  with  much  more 
good  faith  and  promptitude  than  the  violators  of  the  fugitive-slave  laws 
were  punished  in  the  North,  or  than  election  bribery  is  punished  to-day. 
It  was  but  yesterday  that  we  were  told  in  this  Senate  Chamber  the 
stor}'  of  how  a  great  criminal  in  behalf  of  the  Republican  part}-  had 
been  shielded  from  justice  by  the  connivance  of  his  party  friends,  for 
the  offense  of  debauching  and  attempting  to  debauch  the  purity  of  the 
ballot-box.  He  is  yet  at  large  and  defiant.  The  condition  of  the  South- 
ern people  with  regard  to  crime  is  ample  proof  of  this.  In  criminal 
statistics  we  do  not  fear  to  compare  records  with  any  people.  In  the 
category  of  personal  violence  I  admit  that  some  of  our  communities 


LIFE  OF  VANCE. 


.249 


are  open  to  severe  criticism  ;  but  I  contend  that  the  records  will  show 
that  in  the  more  odious,  baser,  and  less  manly  crimes  many  of  the 
Northern  States  are  far  ahead  of  anything  known  in  the  South. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  however,  the  negro  question  has  again  come 
forward  to  vex  the  people  of  the  South,  and  has  to  be  met.  Whether 
or  not  they  ai-e  treated  with  injustice  and  oppression,  it  does  not  mat- 
ter to  those  men  or  that  party  who  expect  to  profit  by  the  agitation  ; 
nor  does  it  matter  whether  the  weal  of  the  negro  or  the  public  gener- 
ally is  to  be  advanced  thereby  ;  that  is  not  their  object. 

The  real  motive  is  that  some  men  may  have  a  horse  to  ride  who 
would  otherwise  perhaps  have  to  walk.  The  negro  and  his  wrongs  or 
rights  will  never  be  quiet  so  long  as  there  is  a  white  man  to  ride  him. 
It  has  often  been  asserted  that  a  superior  and  an  inferior  race  which 
will  not  amalgamate  can  not  live  together  under  the  same  government 
with  equal  rights  and  laws.     This  may  or  ma)'  not  be  true. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose,  if  they  can  not  agree,  that  the  stronger 
will  have  its  way  and  dominate  the  weaker  :  but  there  is  one  proposi- 
tion, Mr.  President,  of  which  you  may  rest  assured,  there  is  no  kind 
of  doubt ;  the  stronger  will  never  submit  to  the  domination  of  the 
weaker.     This  might  as  well  be  set  down  as  res  adjiidicata. 

There  is  another  fact  that  may  be  noted  now  in  connection  with  it. 
The  Senator  from  Kansas  let  fall  an  expression  which  I  regretted 
exceedingly  to  hear.  Prefacing  his  utterance  that  he  had  never  known 
a  people  to  endure  such  wrongs  without  revolution  and  blood,  he  said  : 

"The  South,  Mr.  President,  is  standing  upon  a  volcano,  the  South  is 
sitting  upon  a  safety-valve.  They  are  breeding  innumerable  John 
Browns  and  Nat  Turners.  Already  mutterings  of  discontent  by  hostile 
organizations  are  heard.  The  use  of  the  torch  and  the  dagger  is 
advised." 

This  is  reasonably  construed  as  anincitation  to  the  work  of  murder 
and  arson,  and  although  he  says  that  he  "deplores  it,"  yet,  as  the 
excuse  and  justification  for  such  a  course  immediately  follows,  it  is 
open  to  the  construction  that  it  is  an  indirect  invitation  to  these  people 
to  lay  our  homes  in  ashes  while  we  sleep,  and  murder  unsuspecting 
people. 

The  supposition  that  they  are  capable  of  such  atrocities,  it  seems  to 
me,  is  proof  positive  of  their  incapacity  for  civilized  government  and 
the  extraordinary  idea  of  justice  and  humanit}- of  him  who  suggests  it. 
He  surely  does  not  know  anything  of  the  inflammable  nature  of  the 
negro  in  the  South  or  he  would  not  have  ventured  on  the  expression  of 
such  a  threat.  He  furthermore  told  us  in  this  connection  that  in  case 
such  a  calamity  came  upon  the  Southern  people  as  a  servile  war 
attended  with  whatever  horrors  it  might  be  waged,  we  need  look  for  no 
help  from  the  people  of  our  blood  in  the  North  ;  that  we  must  "  tread 
the  wine  press  alone." 

If  he  speaks  trul}-  in  this,  he  passes  the  blackest  and  vilest  judgment 
upon  his  own  people  that  ever  politician  dared  utter. 


250  LIFE   OF  VANCK. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  do  not  believe  one  word  of  it.  As  the  negro 
race  that  was  born  and  reared  among  us  did  not  rise  up  to  do  us  harm 
in  the  hour  of  our  extremest  adversity,  even  for  the  great  boon  of  free- 
dom and  amidst  the  most  tempting  incitements,  but  continued  faithful 
to  their  masters  and  their  families  even  within  hearing  of  the  guns  that 
were  roaring  to  set  them  free,  so  I  do  not  believe  that  they  can  be  thus 
incited  to  attempt  it  now. 

They  have  more  of  State  and  sectional  pride  and  of  neighborly  affec- 
tion for  the  people  among  whom  they  live  than  the  Senator  is  willing 
to  give  them  credit  for.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  what  he  has  said  about 
the  feeling  of  the  North  is  true  ;  on  the  contrary,  I  believe  as  firmly  as 
I  believe  in  the  gallantry,  the  courage,  and  all  of  the  noble  qualities  of 
the  great  race  to  which  I  belong,  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  stout 
hearts  would  come  to  our  assistance  on  the  wings  of  steam  preceded  by 
the  messenger  of  lightning,  should  we  unhappily  ever  need  such  help. 

It  might  be  that  they  would  mostly  be  composed  of  what  he  calls  the 
"cowardly  and  degraded  elements,"  the  same  elements  that  filled  your 
armies  for  the  defense  of  the  Union  and  which  filled  the  ranks  of  the 
defenders  of  the  Constitution  after  the  Union  was  saved  ;  but,  for  the 
sake  of  our  common  kindred  and  common  glory,  I  believe  that  there 
would  be  no  such  feeling  and  no  party  division  in  such  a  crisis.  But, 
Mr.  President,  w'e  shall  not  need  to  call  for  help  ;  we  could  manage  such 
a  war  without  assistance.  Had  the  Senator  been  a  participant  in  or  a 
critical  observer  even  of  the  last  one,  he  would  know  that  the  eleven 
Southern  States,  which,  though  much  divided  among  themselves,  un- 
aided and  alone  kept  the  whole  power  of  the  Union,  with  its  unlimited 
forces  and  untold  treasure,  at  bay  for  four  long  years,  could  easily,  with 
the  aid  of  the  great  border  States,  overcome  seven  millions  of  negroes. 
Then  there  would  be  a  solution  of  the  negro  problem  that  would  stay 
solved. 

But  a  great  mistake  is  made  by  those  who  assume  that  the  whites 
exercise  no  influence  over  the  negroes  except  by  force  or  fraud.  The 
black  man  is  attached  to  the  South  and  to  the  great  body  of  its  people. 
The  behavior  of  the  blacks  since  their  freedom  has  in  the  main  been 
good  and  gentle.  All  things  considered,  it  has  been  wonderful.  I  be- 
lieve I  can  say  with  truth  that  I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  the 
occurrence  of  any  riot  or  public  disturbance  anywhere  in  the  South  be- 
tween the  races  that  was  not  at  the  instigation  of  some  white  scoundrel; 
and  in  every  case  the  blacks  have  got  the  worst  of  the  fray,  being  de- 
serted invariably  by  their  cowardly  white  allies  when  the  bullets  began 
to  fly. 

The  negroes  know  this,  and  are  well  aware  that  the  interference  of 
outside  friends  has  always  inured  to  their  disadvantage.  They  know, 
too,  that  however  arbitrary  and  determined  to  rule  his  own  country  the 
white  man  has  been  to  them,  that  he  has  yet  never  deceived  them  by 
lying  to  them  and  making  promises  which  he  neither  could  perform  nor 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  25 1 

intended  to  perform,  whilst  from  the  daj^s  of  reconstruction  they  have 
been  the  victims  alike  of  Northern  scoundrels  for  their  personal  profit, 
and  of  political  demagogues  for  their  own  aggrandizement ;  from  the 
selling  of  Yankee  unguents  to  make  their  hair  straight,  or  painted  pegs 
with  which  to  secure  land,  as  was  said  they  did  in  our  Peedee  country, 
where  some  of  the  finest  bottom  lands  were  staked  off  at  a  dollar  a  peg, 
guaranteed  by  the  United  States  Government  to  hold  forty  acres  for 
every  four  pegs  against  any  rebel  in  the  South;  to  the  passage  of  civil- 
rights  bills  for  the  purpose  of  hoisting  them  into  positions  of  social 
equality  with  the  whites.  They  know,  too,  that  when  they  are  in  any 
kind  of  trouble  they  do  not  send  North  to  a  professional  friend  or 
philanthropist  for  help,  but  they  search  at  once  for  old  master  and  mis- 
tress, or  some  one  of  old  master's  children.  There,  I  thank  God,  in 
nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty,  they  find  the  help  they  ask. 

As  among  the  white  people  there  are  good  and  bad,  it  is  so  among 
the  colored.  Naturally  the  proportion  of  bad  among  the  latter  is 
greater  than  in  the  former,  but  still  there  is  a  large  percentage  indeed 
who  would  scorn  to  wage  a  barbarous  warfare  against  their  white 
friends,  even  should  the  white  man  get  off  the  safety-valve.  I  venture 
the  prophecy  that  should  the  South  ever  be  engaged  in  another  war  her 
colored  citizens  would  crowd  into  the  ranks  of  her  armies  in  numbers 
fully  proportioned  to  the  black  population.  I  think  our  Northern 
friends  v.-ho  so  glibly  undertake  to  settle  the  negro  question  have  yet  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  the  negro  himself.  Their  judo^ment  of  him 
is  formed  manifestly  by  the  class  that  swarm  around  this  capital  city, 
and  whose  inconvenient  presence  caused  the  suppression  of  the  suffrage 
of  this  District.  You  listen  to  the  few  who  come  here  to  make  traffic 
of  their  wrongs,  and  in  turn  you  endeavor  to  make  profit  for  your  party 
by  legislation  directed  towards  those  supposed  wrongs. 

You  acknowledge  yourselves  mistaken  as  to  the  results  of  recon- 
struction. Many  of  your  people  now  favor  the  withdrawal  of  the  repre- 
sentation in  Congress  which  their  numbers  have  given  the  South.  Is 
it  not  possible  that  you  are  again  mistaken  as  to  the  nature  of  the  evils 
which  affect  them  and  what  would  be  best  for  them  ?  When  you  as- 
sume that  because  they  mostly  profess  j'our  politics  and  vote  your 
tickets  that,  therefore,  they  are  in  a  state  of  discontent  that  threatens 
at  any  moment  to  break  forth  in  a  bloody  uprising,  may  you  not  be  mis- 
taken in  the  extent  of  your  influence  over  them  ?  Are  you  not  aware 
of  the  difficulty,  the  constant  tutelage,  and  the  vast  amount  of  money 
you  are  compelled  to  employ  to  keep  them  in  subjection  to  a  party 
whose  active  and  respectable  corporation  is  as  far  distant  from  them  as 
its  promises  are  from  its  performance  ;  whilst  the  Democratic  party, 
composed  of  the  white  men  of  the  South,  are  their  neighbors,  land- 
lords, and  employers  ? 

Mr.  President,  what  is  the  so-called  negro  problem  ?  As  I  under- 
stand it,  it  is  one  that  cannot  be  solved  by  speculation  or  legislation  ; 


252  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

but  it  is  a  question  that  will  be  settled  by  nature  herself,  if  her  laws 
are  not  interfered  with  by  the  folly  and  passion  of  men.  Nature  will 
solve  it  as  she  does  waste,  destruction  and  all  incongruities.  It  may 
be  thus  stated :  Given  a  high-spirited,  liberty-loving,  cultivated 
and  dominating  race,  occupying  a  free  State  of  their  own  establishment, 
under  institutions  of  their  own  creation,  full  of  activity,  energy  and 
progress  ;  with  them,  under  the  same  laws,  possessed  of  absolute 
legal  equality,  dwells  an  inferior  race,  manumitted  slaves  of  recently 
barbaric  origin,  with  no  race  traditions,  with  no  history  of  progress, 
but  lately  invested  with  these  unaccustomed  and  unearned  franchises 
— how  shall  the  two  be  made  to  dwell  together  in  fraternity  and 
progress  ? 

This  is  the  question.  It  is  a  principle  of  our  law  fundamental  in 
its  nature,  that  the  majority  of  those  to  whom  the  franchise  is  com- 
mitted shall  rule  within  limits.  It  is  a  principle  of  natural  law,  as 
old  as  man  himself,  that  the  stronger  shall  rule  without  limit.  What 
is  strength  in  a  State  ?  Other  things  being  equal  numbers  give 
strength  ;  but  in  the  States  of  the  South,  whose  conduct  is  com- 
plained of,  other  things  are  far  from  equal.  The  whites  where  not 
actually  in  superior  numbers  are  yet  possessed  of  far  superior  know- 
ledge, courage,  skill  in  the  use  of  weapons  and  tools,  race  pride,  tra- 
ditions, experience  of  affairs,  and  self-control.  Placing  these  two 
side  by  side,  is  it  not  as  sure  as  certainty  can  be  made  that  one  will 
outstrip  the  other  and  control  it  ?  Nature  would  reverse  all  her  own 
decisions  if  it  were  not  so. 

If  the  weaker  be  in  the  way  of  the  stronger  the  former  will  be  re- 
moved. If  two  men  start  on  a  journey,  the  pace  is  regulated  by  the 
slower,  if  they  be  compelled  to  keep  together  ;  and,  however  great  the 
powers  of  the  swifter,  if  compelled  to  wait  for  his  feebler  brother,  his 
powers  are  of  no  more  use  than  if  he  had  them  not.  Naturally,  he 
will  drop  his  brother  behind  and  stride  forward.  The  attempt  to  re- 
strain him  by  legislation  is  unnatural  and  he  will  resent  it.  To  say 
that  the  superior  race  shall  not  by  its  superior  knowledge  and  virtue 
rule  the  inferior,  is  to  say  that  weakness  shall  control  strength,  that 
ignorance  and  vice  shall  control  knowledge  and  virtue.  To  attempt 
by  legislation  to  place  ignorance  and  vice  in  control  of  knowledge  and 
virtue  because  of  the  superior  numbers  of  the  ignorant,  would  be  to 
enact  that  the  civilization  of  great  races  shall  not  enjoy  the  power 
and  influence  with  which  God  endowed  them  ;  that  three  weak  men, 
however  ignorant  and  debased,  shall  forever  control  two  white  men, 
however  wise  and  virtuous. 

The  mere  statement  of  the  proposition  shows  that  it  is  hostile  to 
the  highest  natural  and  moral  laws  which  have  been  impressed  upon 
man  and  constitute  the  basis  of  his  civilization. 

''""   Mr.  President,  I  know  the  negro  well.     I    was   born   and  reared 
among  them,  and  have  all  my  life  lived  in  close  association  with  them. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  253 

I  aflBrm  to  yoii,  not  that  he  is  incapable  of  civilization,  but  that  he  is 
incapable  of  attaining  to  and  keeping  up  with  the  civilization  of  the 
race  to  which  we  belong.  At  the  very  best,  his  refinement  must  be  of 
a  low  order  compared  to  ours.  Any  attempt,  therefore,  to  force  him 
into  equality  with  us  in  the  race  of  progress  can  result  in  nothing  else 
but  the  retarding  of  the  advancement  of  the  Southern  whites.  Those 
who  have  determined  to  subject,  at  all  hazards,  to  negro  rule  those 
States  of  the  South  where  they  are  in  superior  numbers,  have  simply 
determined  that  the  white  man's  progress  shall  be  measured  by  the 
negro's,  if,  indeed,  it  does  not  result  in  explosion  and  mutual  destruc- 
tion. Fair-minded  men  everywhere  may  accept  this  as  truth.  The 
sons  of  Ham  have  had  the  same  opportiinities  that  the  sons  of  Shem 
and  Japheth  have  had.     No  where  have  they  improved  them. 

I  know  not  whether  I  should  give  credence  to  the  oft-repeated 
allegation  that  they  are  forever  feeling  the  effect  of  their  ancestor's 
curse,  but  this  I  do  know,  that  they  have  been  in  close  contact  with 
every  civilization  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  ;  with  the  oldest 
Egyptian,  the  Assyro-Babylonian,  the  Grecian,  the  Roman,  and  the 
modern  ;  in  each  of  them  we  read  of  his  presence  and  in  every  instance 
he  was  a  slave. 

He  learned  nothing  for  the  benefit  of  his  race  from  his  civilized 
masters  in  all  these  ages.  He  has  made  more  progress  in  one  hun- 
dred years  as  a  Southern  slave  than  he  made  in  all  the  five  thousand 
years  intervening  from  his  creation  until  his  landing   on  these  shores. 

He  has  no  type  now  living  on  this  earth  equal  to  those  of  the 
present  generation  who  were  born  and  raised  in  the  slave  States  of 
America.  All  of  which  should  be  considered  by  those  who  have  phil- 
osophy and  fairness  enough  to  look  at  the  matter  in  some  other  light 
than  the  necessities  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  next  campaign. 

The  fact  dwelt  upon  by  the  Senator  from  Kansas  concerning  their 
behavior  towards  their  masters  during  the  war  is  fully  admitted.  It 
is  a  strong  argument  to  prove  either  that  they  were  unfitted  for  the 
great  boon  of  liberty  or  that  the  horrid  stories  of  inhuman  treatment 
by  their  masters  were  lies.  I  am  not  only  willing  but  anxious  to  have 
justice  done  thejiL-ui-.&v«rything,  and  to  do  all  that  may  be  required  of 
me  td~atdThem  in  the  difficulties  of  their  position  ;  but  I  am  not  will- 
ing that  tttey  should  rule  me  or  my  people.  It  is  my  pride  that  my 
StatsTias  been  just  to  them  and  generous,  and  that  in  the  adjusting  of 
the  new  order  of  things  after  their  enfranchisement  I  had  no  incon- 
siderable hand  in  providing  those  laws  and  institutions  which  have 
made  them  comparatively  well  content  in  North  Carolina. 

I  believe  them  incapable,  for  many  reasons,  of  properly  control- 
ling public  affairs,  but  I  do  believe  them  capable  of  making  valuable 
citizens  under  the  wiser  control  of  the  whites.  My  solution  of  the 
problem  is  simply,  "Hands  off."  Let  no  man  be  afraid  that  if  the 
Northern  people  cease  their  interference  the  negroes  will  be  driven  to 


254  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

wall.     On  the  contrary,  it  is  your  interference  that   causes  or  aggra- 
vates whatever  of  trouble  is  inflicted  upon  them. 

Such  is  the  nature  of  man.  We  prefer  to  do  things  of  our  own 
volition  that  we  would  refuse  to  do  at  the  dictation  of  those  who  have 
no  right  to  order.  Within  my  memory  as  a  child  there  was  a  strong 
and  growing  anti-slavery  party  in  North  Carolina,  headed  by  many  of 
our  greatest  and  most  honored  citizens,  some  of  whom  sat  in  these 
seats  before  me.  Orations  against  slavery  and  its  consequences  were 
freelj'  delivered  and  with  applause,  before  the  classes  of  our  Univer- 
sity. This  cause,  under  the  influence  of  its  great  advocates,  would 
soon  have  claimed  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  North  Carolina,  but  those 
fiery  zealots  of  the  North,  who,  as  Carlyle  says,  were  so  anxious  to 
serve  God  that  they  took  the  devil  into  partnership  with  them,  began 
their  interference.  A  crusade  against  slavery  and  slave-holding,  in 
defiance  of  legal  rights,  was  begun  and  kept  up  until  so  far  was  the 
cause  of  emancipation  overthrown  that  twenty-five  years  after  these 
same  great  and  honored  North  Carolinians  would  have  suffered  insult 
and  violence  for  repeating  their  orations.  Men  will  not  be  bullied 
even  into  doing  right.  Know,  therefore,  that  every  speech  you  make, 
every  law  you  enact  denunciatory  of  or  punitive  against  the  Southern 
people,  with  a  view  to  subject  them  to  the  rule  of  their  emancipated 
slaves,  defers  indefinitely  that  state  of  cordial  harmony  between  whites 
and  blacks  which  is  so  necessary  to  both. 

There  is  another  way  by  which,  in  my  opinion,  you  also  do  the  ne- 
groes a  damage  by  your  constant  interference.  You  do  nothing  to 
increase  the  cordiality  between  them  and  their  white  neighbors.  You 
know  that  their  well-being  depends  upon  their  being  on  good  terms 
with  their  landlords  and  employers  more  than  upon  anything  else  ;  yet 
you  are  constantly  endeavoring  to  drive  a  wedge  between  them  and  to 
push  them  further  apart.  You  endeavor  to  make  them  look  altogether 
to  you  for  help.  You  have  coddled  them  so  long  and  made  them  so 
many  promises  that  they  have  ceased  to  rely  upon  their  own  exertions 
and  have  come  to  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  of  others  to  provide  for 
them.     No  greater  injury  could  be  done  to  any  people. 

The  historian  of  the  Spanish  conquests  in  America,  Arthur  Helps, 
remarks  that  the  considerate  and  gentle  regulations  provided  for  the 
Indians  of  the  Pearl  coast  by  the  benevolent  Las  Casas  "  proved  a  sad 
restraint  upon  the  energies  of  the  race,  as  no  man  leans  long  on  any 
person  or  thing  without  losing  some  of  his  original  power  and  energy.  " 
You  have  legislated  and  amended  constitutions  for  him,  denounced 
your  neighbors,  and  glorified  the  negro  and  oflicially  wept  over  his 
condition  until  you  have  to  a  very  great  extent  made  him  a  "  dodder," 
a  parasitic  animal  without  support  in  self-respect  or  self-reliance,  a 
class  of  men  which  of  all  others  is  least  desirable  in  a  progressive  com- 
munity. 

"  Any  now  sot  of  conditions,"  says  the  philosopher,  Ray  Lankcster, 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  255 

"occurring  to  an  animal  which  render  its  food  and  safety  very  easily 
attained  seem  to  lead,  as  a  rule,  to  degeneration." 

Applying  this  principle  in  nature  to  the  moral  world,  Henry  Drum- 
mond  says  : 

"  Any  principle  which  secures  the  safety  of  the  individual  without 
personal  effort  or  the  vital  exercise  of  faculty  is  disastrous  to  moral 
character." 

Suppose  you  trust  the  Southern  people  for  awhile  ?  You  can  not  be- 
lieve that  any  considerable  number  of  them  desire  to  do  wrong  or  to 
treat  the  negroes  unjustly  ?  If  you  say  you  trust  them  and  withhold 
your  interference,  public  sentiment,  with  a  power  that  can  not  be  re- 
sisted, will  soon  enforce  State  laws  and  constitutional  amendments  in  a 
manner  that  will  satisfy  all  honest  men  ;  not  perfunctorily,  but  wdth 
cheerful  zeal. 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  can  not  support  the  bill  of  the  Senator 
from  South  Carolina.  My  objection  to  it  is  on  the  ground  of  imprac- 
ticability. It  would  result  in  no  relief  ;  few  negroes  would  go  from  the 
country  under  its  provisions  and  those  would  probably  be  the  best.  I 
can  not  say  that  I  have  any  desire  to  attempt  in  any  way  so  great  and 
unhistorical  a  task  as  removing  a  whole  people,  amounting  probably 
to  7,000,000.  Their  presence  among  us,  of  course,  I  regret.  I  should 
be  happy  to  know  that  there  was  not  one  of  them  in  the  United  States 
to  be  the  unwilling  cause  of  everlasting  contention  between  our  peo- 
ple. But  they  are  here,  and  I  for  one  am  willing  to  do  my  best  to  live 
with  them  in  harmony.  I  can  well  see,  however,  and  appreciate  the  mo- 
tive of  the  honorable  Senator  in  taking  this  action.  I  know  how  his 
State  has  been  weighed  down  in  the  past  by  this  incubus  and  how  dark 
the  future  of  his  people  must  appear  under  the  ever-threatening  danger 
of  a  recurrence  to  the  carnival  of  corruption  and  misrule  of  i868-'6q  and 
1870. 

So  far  as  the  evil  may  be  capable  of  remedy  by  removal  of  any 
kind,  I  would  suggest  that  it  is  perfectly  practicable  to  induce  these 
people  to  settle  in  the  various  States  of  this  Union  which  now  have  few 
or  no  colored  people.  There  is  ample  room  for  them  throughout  the 
Northern  and  Northwestern  States,  each  one  of  which  could  receive 
enough  to  relieve  the  pressure  entirely  upon  those  States  in  the  South 
whose  progress  is  about  to  be  destroyed,  and  yet  not  inconveniently 
interfere  with  the  well-being  of  any  Northern  State.  Besides,  if  the 
presence  of  negroes  in  superior  numbers  does  amount  to  a  positive  evil 
in  the  South,  I  submit  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  other  States  to  assist 
them  in  removing  or  so  distributing  the  evil  that  it  shall  be  harmless. 
If  the  negro  is  a  good  thing  we  are  willing  to  divide  him  up.  [Laughter.] 
There  is  plenty  of  him  to  go  round. 

Nothing  is  wanting  to  the  execution  of  this  suggestion  except  the 
consent  of  these  Northern  States.  One-half  of  the  inducements  and 
the  solicitations  which  they  hold  out  to  foreigners,  if  extended  to  the 


256  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

negroes  of  the  South,  would  within  ten  years  draw  such  numbers  of 
them  as  to  leave  all  the  Southern  States  with  decided  white  majorities  ; 
and  it  is  well-known  that  there  is  little  or  no  complaint  of  the  mis- 
treatment of  negroes  where  there  are  white  majorities.  This  would 
equalize  the  conditions  of  all  the  States.  The  introduction  of  large 
numbers  of  the  colored  race  into  every  Northern  State  would  be  equiv- 
alent to  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  and  would  restrain  you 
effectually  from  the  passage  of  an}'  laws  or  the  attempting  of  any  kind 
of  interference  that  would  discriminate  between  the  States  of  the 
American  Union  on  account  of  their  locality  or  previous  condition  of 
slavery.  It  would  familiarize  the  masses  of  your  people  with  the 
negro,  his  capacities,  his  habits,  and  his  needs,  and  you  neither  would 
nor  could  then  strike  any  vindictive  blows  at  the  Southern  people 
without  its  immediate  reacting  upon  yourselves. 

As  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  become  homogeneous  by  all  being 
white,  this  plan  would  make  it  quite  possible  for  us  to  become  homo- 
geneous by  all  being  partly  white  and  partly  colored,  retaining  white 
majorities  in  each  State.  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Georgia,  Tennes- 
see, Arkansas  and  Texas  would  need  not  to  surrender  any  of  their 
colored  people,  and  it  would  only  require  the  removal  of  about  500,000 
blacks  from  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida 
and  South"Carolina  to  give  every  State  in  the  Union  such  a  decided 
preponderance  of  whites  as  to  remove  all  danger  of  negro  supremacy 
and  all  fear  of  trouble  from  this  source. 

What  say  the  Republican  Senators  to  this  ?  Of  course  you  will 
say  that  your  doors  are  open  now  to  all  who  may  see  proper  to  come, 
but  that  is'not  suflBcient  to  induce  them  to  remove.  Are  you  willing 
to  offer  them' some  special  inducement?  Are  you  willing  to  vote 
money  out  of  the  United  States  Treasury  to  pay  their  expenses  and  to 
support  them  for  a  short  time  until  thej-  can  get  a  start  in  their  new 
homes  ?  Surely  you  will  demonstrate  your  sincerity  in  some  practical, 
helpful  way,  and  not  confine  your  benevolent  statesmanship  to  cheap 
words.  If  you  will  help  neither  black  nor  white,  you  should,  in  com- 
mon decency,  hold  your  peace. 

Of  Vance's  last  public  appearance  in  Charlotte  the 
Charlotte  Observer  of  November  2d,  1892,  gave  the  follow- 
ing account : 

VanceJ  Vance  !  was  the  sound  which  burst  spontaneously  from 
the  immense  audience,  as  the  applause  for  Mr.  Ham  subsided,  and  as 
the  noble,  loved  "Zeb"  rose,  the  people  went  wild.  Old  men,  young 
men,  women  and  children  jumped  to  their  feet,  waving  handkerchiefs 
and  hats,  and  cheering  until  the  very  building  seemed  to  rock.  Not 
a  person  in  the  house  remained  seated  ;  many  stood  on  the  benches, 
hats  were  thrown  up,  and  such  an  expression  of  love,  affection  and  es- 


LIKK   OF   VANCE.  257 

teem  was  never  shown  to  any  son  of  North  Carolina  at  any  time,  or 
anywhere,  as  was  expressed  in  the  great  ovation  over  Vance.  On  the 
rostrum  every  man  rose,  and  following  Mr.  Ham's  lead,  all  waved 
their  handkerchiefs  and  cheered  for  fully  ten  minutes.  It  was  a  great 
demonstration,  and  one  that  did  honor  even  to  the  loved  Senator.  As 
he  stood  on  the  rostrum  amidst  the  deafening  cheers  of  his  people, 
he  looked  like  a  grand  chieftain  leading  his  people  and  guiding  them 
simply  by  his  presence.  It  was  a  scene  the  like  of  which  was  never 
witnessed  in  Charlotte  before. 

"Fellow-citizens  and  good  friends,"  said  the  Governor,  and  a  still- 
ness profound  ensued  as  he  began  to  speak.  "I  thank  you  from  my 
heart  for  the  cordiality  of  this  reception.  I  am  deeply  touched  at  this 
evidence  of  your  esteem,  and  wish  I  could  do  more  than  acknowledge 
it,  but  you  all  know  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  take  part  in  this  the 
most  important  campaign  since  the  reconstruction.  To-night  I  speak 
against  the  advice  of  my  physician,  but  you  know  when  we  begin  to 
get  well  we  think  less  of  the  doctor  than  when  we  are  sick.  It  makes 
me  glad  at  heart  to  see  such  an  audience  in  Mecklenburg,  and  to  make 
you  a  speech  is  as  tempting  to  me  as  a  good  dinner  would  be  to  a  real 
hungry  man. 

"I  want  to  say  this,  however.  In  my  political  career  I  have  seen 
party  after  party  rise  up  against  Democracy  and  all  have  died  except 
the  Republican  party,  which  lives,  but  is  not  expected  to  live  very 
long.  All  other  parties  have  disappeared,  leaving  only  that  smell 
which  the  able  Georgian  has  just  referred  to.  [Applause.]  Now 
there  has  come  a  time  when  there  are  real  grievances.  Every  true 
reformer  must  be  the  friend  of  Democracy  and  the  enemy  of  Repub- 
licanism. The  tendency  of  the  Third  party  is  to  affiliation  with  the 
Republican  party,  and  my  Third  party  friend,  you  will  land  right  in 
the  Republican  party.  Unless  you  stay  in  the  old  Democratic  ship 
there  is  no  salvation  for  you.*" 

The  chapter  is  closed  with  the  last  speech  Vance  ever 
delivered.  It  was  among  his  ablest  speeches  and  many 
think  his  very  ablest.  It  was,  indeed,  a  remarkable  speech, 
and,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  truly  prophetic  in 
some  particulars.  The  assertion  is  ventured  by  one  who 
does  not  concur  in  his  views  of  the  silver  question,  that  the 
speech  is  abler  and  more  logical  and  candid  than  any  one 
of  the  thousands  that  have  been  subsequently  delivered  on 
the  same  side  of  that  question.  Congressman  Woodward, 
in  the  excellent  eulogy  already  quoted  from,  says  of  this 
effort : 

18 


258  LIFE  OF  VANCK. 

"  The  last  speech  he  made  in  the  Senate  was  in  opposition  to  the 
unconditional  i-epeal  of  the  Sherman  law.  I  always  considered  it  a 
great  privilege  to  have  heard  this  speech,  by  many  considered  one  of 
the  ablest  ever  delivered  in  the  Senate. 

"  Fatal  disease  had  already  laid  its  hand  upon  him.  His  stalwart 
frame  had  grown  feeble  and  weak,  his  voice  had  lost  much  of  its  pecu- 
liar charm  and  power.  He  was  speaking  when  I  entered  the  Senate. 
Almost  every  Senator  was  in  his  seat,  listening  eagerly  to  the  powerful 
argument  he  was  making.  He  had  not  proceeded  long  before  all  evi- 
dence of  his  feeble  condition  had  seemingly  passed  away,  and  feeling, 
as  he  no  doubt  did,  that  this  might  be  his  last  appeal  for  legislation 
believed  by  him  to  be  vital  for  the  best  interests  of  his  people,  he  hus- 
banded all  his  strength  and  for  nearly  two  hours  held  the  undivided 
attention  of  the  Senate.  It  was  a  great  speech,  enlivened  by  the  flashes 
of  his  wit  and  humor,  his  argument  sustained  by  his  powerful  logic. 
It  deserves  to  rank  among  the  ablest  delivered  by  any  Senator  during 
that  memorable  debate." 

And  Congressman  Crawford,  on  the  same  occasion,  said : 
"  The  last  speech  he  made  was  on  September  ist,  1893, 
against  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Sherman  law.  With 
prophetic  wisdom  he  predicted  that  there  would  be  no  leg- 
islation favorable  to  silver  if  not  had  at  the  time  the  Sher- 
man law  was  repealed.  This  was  one  of  the  greatest 
speeches  of  his  life  and  he  spoke  with  his  old  time  vigor. 
When  he  had  concluded  I  congratulated  him,  saying : 
'Governor,  you  seem  to  be  yourself  again.'  And  he  replied: 
'  By  noi'means ;  I  am  thoroughly  exhausted.'  And  the  great 
statesman  stepped  out  of  the  Senate  and  the  great  doors 
closed  behind  forever." 

The  Senate  having  under  consideration  the  bill  (H.  R.  i)  to  repeal 
a  part  of  an  act  approved  July  14,  1890,  entitled  "An  act  directing  the 
purchase  of  silver  bullion  and  the  issue  of  Treasury  notes  thereon,  and 
for  other  purposes,"  Mr.  Vance  said: 

Mr.  President — The  metallic  money  of  the  world  is  estimated  at 
about  17,500,000,000.  About  one-half  of  this  is  silver,  which  is  full 
legal-tender  money,  and  in  addition  thereto  there  is  about  $550,000,000 
of  subsidiary  silver  in  use  in  the  different  nations  of  the  world.  This 
money  is  the  means  by  which  the  world's  exchanges  are  effected  and 
their  values  measured.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  great  law  of 
supply  and  demand  has  operation  and  effect  in  regard  to  this  money, 
as  in  regard  to  everything  else.     When  money  is  abundant  prices  are 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  259 

high;  ^vhell  money  is  scarce  the  prices  of  all  products  are  low.  There- 
fore, he  that  increases  the  abundance  of  money  benefits  production 
and  enhances  prices  and  wages,  and  he  that  contracts  or  diminishes 
the  amount  of  this  money  depreciates  everything  which  is  for  sale,  in- 
cluding wages,  though  by  reason  of  combinations  and  defensive 
measures  in  many  parts  of  the  world  wages  are  affected  less  than 
products. 

The  effect  upon  the  condition  and  well-being  of  mankind  which 
would  follow  the  destruction  of  one-half  of  this  currency — it  is  im- 
possible accuratel}-  to  describe.  The  imagination  of  a  poet  would  be 
required  to  portray  its  misery;  and  only  he  who  wandered  through  the 
horror-laden  mazes  of  the  Inferno,  or  he  that  exulting  in  still  sublimer 
song  portrayed  the  wretchedness  of  man's  disobedience  and  fall,  could 
adequatel}-  set  forth  the  evil,  the  suffering,  and  the  sorrow  which  would 
come  to  mankind  if  their  wages  and  the  prices  of  all  their  products  were 
decreased  in  the  proportion  that  would  follow  the  destruction  of  one-half 
of  the  world's  money.  Yet,  this  process  of  destruction  has  been  going 
on  quieth'  since  1872,  the  result  of  which  we  see  in  prices  lower  in  many 
things  than  have  ever  been  known  within  the  memory  of  man. 

Great  Britain  led  off  in  the  demonetization  of  silver  so  early  as 
1816,  in  consequence,  as  is  said,  of  her  great  debts  to  the  Jew 
Rothschilds,  to  meet  which  she  made  gold  her  only  standard  of  money, 
reducing  silver  to  subsidiary  circulation.  After  the  great  Franco- 
Prussian  war  Germany  was  induced  to  adopt  the  gold  standard.  So 
great  then  became  the  pressure  upon  adjoining  nations  that  the  Latin 
Union,  which  had  been  formed  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  silver 
within  the  boundaries  of  France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Italy,  and 
Greece,  were  compelled  to  cease  coining  silver  and  devote  all  their 
efforts  to  the  maintenance  of  that  which  they  had  coined.  About  the 
same  time  the  United  States  ceased  coining,  by  a  fraud  in  legislation 
when  silver,"  which  at  that  moment  was  at  a  premium  over  gold,  began 
to  decline,  and  has  continued  to  decline  ever  since. 

In  1878  the  indignation  of  the  people  forced  its  remouetization, 
and  under  the  operation  of  the  Bland  law,  coinage  was  resumed  at  a 
rate  of  not  less  than  12,000,000  a  month  and  not  more  than  $4,000,000, 
at  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Of  course,  this  dis- 
cretion was  exercised  against  silver,  as  it  always  has  been,  and  only 
|2,ooo,ooo  a  month  was  coined;  but  it  stayed  the  downward  course  of 
silver,  and  the  common  people  received  it  gladly. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  year,  1893,  it  was  coined  for  legal-tender 
purposes  in  none  of  the  leading  commercial  nations  of  the  European 
world,  to  but  a  limited  extent  in  the  United  States,  and  in  India  it 
was  coined  freely.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  United  States  and  in 
Germany  in  1873,  when  it  was  demonetized,  silver  was  at  a  premium  ; 
and  in  1816,  when  Great  Britain  demonetized  it,  it  was  likewise  at  a 
premium. 


26o  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

In  June  of  this  year  the  British-India  council,  anticipating,  as  was 
said,  the  action  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  repealing 
the  Sherman  law,  which  it  was  supposed  would  render  silver  next  to 
worthless,  suddenly  stopped  coinage  of  the  silver  rupee,  and  announced 
that  the  government  would  itself  coin  limited  quantities,  as  the  pub- 
lic needs  might  require.  Then  the  effort  to  have  the  coinage  altogether 
stopped  in  the  United  States  began,  aided  by  the  influence  of  the 
moneyed  power  of  all  the  world  and  our  own  Government. 

Silver  lives  now,  so  to  speak,  only  in  the  United  States — here 
among  the  people  who  recognized  it  as  money  when  they  established 
their  constitutional  form  of  government  it  makes  its  last  stand.  If  its 
coinage  is  stopped  now,  it  ceases  to  live  throughout  the  commercial 
nations  of  the  earth,  and  drops  out  of  sight.  The  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
law,  without  any  substitute  providing  for  the  continued  coinage  of 
silver,  is  the  end  of  silver  money  for  this  generation,  except  as  sub- 
sidiary coin,  unless,  indeed,  a  great  revolution  of  the  people  should 
restore  it,  as  was  done  after  the  fraudulent  demonetization  of  1873. 

Then  the  trouble  of  the  defenseless  begins  ;  the  glory  of  the  capi- 
talists is  exalted  ;  the  fatness  of  the  usurer  waxeth,  and  woe  be  unto 
him  who  is  in  debt !  One-half  of  the  money  of  the  world  being  des- 
troyed, the  exchanges  of  the  world's  productions  among  its  inhabitants 
devolves  upon  the  other  half — the  price  of  the  remaining  money,  gold, 
goes  up — that  is  to  say,  the  price  of  every  product  and  every  day's 
work  goes  down.  Let  no  man  doubt  that  this  movement  is  the  result 
of  a  conspiracy,  a  combination  among  the  money-holders  of  the  world. 

Our  own  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  said  so.  It  has  been 
announced  again  and  again  in  the  British  House  of  Commons,  and  I 
have  nowhere  seen  it  denied. 

The  intent  of  this  combination  is  to  increase  the  value  of  the 
gold  in  the  hands  of  those  who  hold  it,  and  to  increase  the  values  of  all 
securities,  personal  and  governmental,  by  making  them  payable  in 
gold,  which  are  likewise  held  by  these  conspirators.  The  method  of 
attack  on  this  last  remaining  stronghold  of  silver  was  by  the  creation 
of  a  panic.  The  only  statutory  enactment  which  binds  us  to  the  use 
of  silver  and  makes  us  a  bimetallic  people  is  what  is  known  as  the  Sher- 
man law.  Under  the  operation  of  this  law,  4,500,000  ounces  of  silver 
per  month  was  required  to  be  purchased  and  coined  until  the  ist  of  July, 
1891,  after  which  time  only  so  much  was  to  be  coined  as  was  necessary 
to  redeem  the  notes  issued  for  its  purchase. 

These  were  called  Treasury  notes,  and  any  technically  intelligent 
man  would  naturally  suppose  that  when  a  law  required  the  purchase 
of  silver  bullion  and  the  issue  of  Treasury  notes  in  payment  thereof, 
and  provided  for  the  coinage  of  that  bullion  into  silver  dollars  for  the 
purpose  of  redeeming  those  notes,  payable  in  either  gold  or  silver  at 
the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  it  was  meant  for  him 
to  exercise  that  discretion  in  favor  of  silver,  when  the  interest  of  the 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  261 

public  and  the  condition  of  the  Treasury  required  it.  It  was  construed 
differently,  and  parties  would  procure  those  Treasury  notes  and  pre- 
sent them  to  the  Treasury  where  they  were  invariably  redeemed  in 
gold. 

This  gold  was  shipped  abroad  in  many  cases,  because  a  scramble 
was  going  on  in  Europe  for  gold.  The  demonetization  of  silver  had 
already  produced  its  inevitable  effect,  and  the  gold  supply  was  not 
sufficient  for  those  communities  ;  hence,  much  was  shipped  from  this 
country — mostly  obtained  by  the  means  of  Treasury  notes.  It  is  quite 
true  that  it  could  have  been  obtained  just  as  easily  by  the  presentation 
of  greenbacks,  by  the  presentation  of  gold  certificates,  by  the  presenta- 
tion of  bonds  or  the  coupons  upon  said  bonds,  or  by  the  presentation  of 
national  bank  notes.  In  fact,  there  was  not  an  obligation  of  the 
Government  outstanding  but  what  was  reducible  to  gold. 

Yet  these  men  who  were  desirous  of  creating  a  panic  chose  to 
attribute  the  departure  of  gold  alone  to  the  Sherman  law,  and  with 
loud-mouthed  clamor  they  declared  there  was  danger  of  the  Govern- 
ment being  reduced  to  a  silver  basis  and  discharging  its  obligations  in 
silver  coin.  Some  foreigners  believed  this,  and  sent  over  a  few  of  our 
securities  and  put  them  upon  the  market  for  realization.  This  created 
such  alarm  among  those  who  held  these  securities  and  feared  for  their 
margins,  that  the  clamor,  which  began  in  a  false  pretense,  ended  in  a 
howl  of  real  terror.  Their  deposits  were  rapidly  withdrawn  and  they 
justly  suffered.  They  brought  such  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Presi- 
dent as  induced  him  to  call  an  extra  session  of  Congress  in  the  dog 
days  for  the  simple  and  sole  purpose  of  repealing  this  law. 

In  the  midst  of  this  clamor  it  was  ascertained  that  we  had  largely 
overtraded  and  the  balance  was  against  us  in  Europe,  which  caused  the 
gold  to  go  out;  and  so  soon  as  wheat  and  cotton  began  to  pour  into  the 
market  the  tide  was  turned,  and  the  gold  began  to  come  back  and  con- 
tinues to  come  back  to  this  day.  But,  determined  to  pursue  their 
warfare  for  the  demonetization  of  silver,  and  enable  them  to  refute  the 
the  arguments  which  the  gold  coming  in  every  day  furnished,  they  put 
the  necessitv  for  the  repeal  of  the  law  upon  the  fact  that  they  had  lost 
"confidence;"  that  there  was  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  ability  and 
disposition  of  the  Government  to  pay  its  debts  in  gold;  whereas  it  was 
only  the  depositors  who  had  lost  confidence  in  the  banks. 

Those  of  New  York  being  parties  to  the  conspiracy,  of  course  con- 
tracted their  circulation,  refused  money  on  the  usual  terms,  which 
caused  the  stopping  of  some  factories  and  the  stagnation  of  some  busi- 
ness enterprises,  and  some. distress  among  small  dealers  and  working- 
men.  Never  was  there  a  more  senseless  clamor  or  a  more  criminal 
disturbance  of  public  confidence.  Every  dollar  of  our  currency  that 
we  had  before  was  still  here,  and  the  Sherman  law  was  adding  to  it  at 
the  rate  of  ^50,000,000  per  annum  ;  in  fact,  one  speaker  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  more  candid  than  the  rest,  declared  that  the  want  of 


262  I*IFE   OF   VANCE. 

confidence  was  produced  by  a  too  great  abundance  of  money  and  not 
by  a  scarcity. 

When  the  danger  of  resorting  to  the  gold  standard  was  pointed  out 
by  showing  that  the  production  of  gold  is  slightly  decreasing,  and  not 
near  keeping  pace  with  the  increasing  demands  of  commerce  and  pop- 
ulation, we  were  told  that  although  the  amount  of  gold  produced  from 
the  earth  was  not  increasing,  that  there  was  an  extraordinary  amount 
of  it  held  in  private  hands  in  Europe  and  America.  That  tells  the 
whole  story — the  decreasing  supply,  and  the  extraordinary  holdings  in 
the  hands  of  the  conspirators — silver,  the  only  rival  of  gold,  being 
wiped  out,  the  world  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  held  the 
yellow  metal.  And  so  the  attempt  is  now  made  to  give  the  finishing 
touch  to  silver  by  this  panic,  more  fraudulent  than  was  the  legislation 
of  1873  ;  and,  though  $40,000,000  of  gold  has  come  in  within  the  last 
thirty  days,  and  continues  to  come,  and  will  come  just  so  long  as  we 
keep  foreigners  in  our  debt,  they  keep  up  their  clamor  for  repeal.  If 
the  Sherman  law  sent  out  gold,  it  surely  has  brought  it  back.  If  not, 
what  has  made  it  return  ? 

If  the  fact  of  its  going  is  due  to  that  law,  the  fact  of  its  returning 
is  equally  proof  that  it  is  due  to  that  law  ;  and  the  fact  that  in  the  midst 
of  this  clamor  the  resources  of  our  country  are  so  great  as  to  be  able 
to  check  the  outflow  of  gold  and  to  turn  the  tide  in  the  home  direction, 
ought  to  restore  confidence  to  every  man  whose  confidence  is  worth 
securing — even  to  the  loud-mouthed  stock  gambler  and  the  other  "  con- 
fidence men  "  who  are  managing  and  steering  this  panic. 

But  they  refuse  to  be  comforted,  and  at  this  moment,  as  I  talk, 
banks  which  had  shut  down  for  the  want  of  currency  have  reopened 
for  business,  enterprises  suspended  temporarily  are  starting  up  again, 
and  the  Sherman  law  continues  to  feed  the  reaction  at  the  rate  of  I50,- 
000,000  per  annum  added  to  the  currency.  It  looks  as  though  they 
were  afraid  their  panic  would  pass  away  and  be  exploded  before  they 
could  get  silver  destroyed.  But  all  the  argument  in  regard  to  the  uses 
and  advantages  of  silver  money  are  conceded  ;  so,  too,  are  all  the  bless- 
ings which  attend  bimetallism,  and  all  the  evils  which  would  be  upon 
the  country  by  the  destruction  of  one  of  the  great  factors  of  exchange, 
and  I  need  not  further  discuss  them. 

The  discussion  is  further  narrowed  by  the  fact  that  all  parties  pro- 
fess bimetallism,  how  sincerely  is  doubtful,  and  have  declared  for  the 
use  of  both  gold  and  silver  in  their  platforms  and  their  speeches  and 
public  professions.  Even  the  author  of  the  much-abused  and  maligned 
law  that  they  wish  to  repeal  says  he  is  a  bimetallist ;  so  do  all  the  Re- 
publican Senators  on  this  floor,  every  one  ;  likewise  the  author  of  the 
bill  to  repeal  that  law  and  those  on  the  Democratic  side  who  agree 
with  him — all  claim  to  be  devoted  bimetallists  ;  some,  however,  on 
conditions  well  known  to  be  impossible,  some  on  conditions  known  to 
be  improbable,  and  some  on  other  conditions  available  in  all  things 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  263 

except  as  to  time.  They  say,  "  Not  now  ;  the  stringency  is  too  great ; 
at  some  other  time  we  will  do  the  thing  that  is  nght  by  silver.  Go  thy 
way   at  a  more  convenient  season  I  will  call  for  thee."     [Laughter.] 

i  have  even  heard  it  intimated  that  the  President  himself  is  a  bi- 
metallist,  but  this  is  not  authentic,  and  those  who  know  that  he 
generally  does  his  own  talking  and  announces  his  own  position  will 
fe'ive  this  with  many  grains  of  allowance.  So,  then  the  advantages 
of  a  currencv  founded  on  both  metals,  the  dangers  and  distress  which 
niic^ht  arise  from  the  demonetization  of  silver,  all  being  acknowledged, 
it  onlv  remains  for  us  to  inquire-supposing  we  are  in  good  faith- 
whether  the  bill  before  us  pursues  the  only  way,  or  the  best  way  or 
anv  other  way  at  all  to  promote,  establish,  and  maintain  the  bimetallic 
use  of  silver  as  an  equal  co-ordinate  part  of  our  currency. 

Mr  President,  human  endeavor  runs  much  m  ruts.  There  has 
never  been  a  robbery  imposed  upon  the  American  people  in  the  shape 
of  a  tariff  on  any  article,  from  a  darning  needle  to  a  steel  rail  from  a 
.S-cent  wool  hat  to  a  $500  shawl,  that  has  not  been  imposed  in  the 
name  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  laboring  people  alone.  [Laughter.] 
The  idea  that  the  capitalist  was  to  be  benefitted  by  such  tariff  exaction 
was  always  scouted  as  altogether  untrue.  Strange  to  say,  this  impu- 
dent and  unblushing  lie  always  found  some  believers-such  is  the 
credulity  of  mankind.  The  same  tactics  are  resorted  to  m  this  discus- 
sion of  the  financial  question. 

Knowing  the  popularity  of  silver  money  with  the  great  masses  of 
the  people  speakers  in  this  House  and  the  other  sing  the  same  praises 
of  bimetallism,  from  the  invocation  to  the  doxology  of  these  services 
coupled  with  the  solemn  averment  that  they  are  the  best  and  truest 
friends  of  that  system  to  be  found,  and  that  unconditional  repeal  is 
the  onlv  true  road  to  attain  it.     [Laughter.] 

With  all  the  grave  pledges  of  their  party  platforms,  State  and  na- 
tional, staring  them  in  the  face,  as  well  as  their  own  speeches,  promises, 
and  votes  in  the  recent  past,  blowing  trumpet-tongued  against  the 
deep  damnation  of  the  taking-off  of  silver,  they  clamor  all  the  fiercer 
and  all  the  louder  that  the  only  way  to  save  silver  is  to  repeal  the  one 
law  on  our  statute  book  which  gives  It  hfe. 

Mr  President,  in  the  presence  of  a  position  so  defiant  of  logic  and 
of  fact.'it  is  hard  to  speak  plainly  without  appearing  to  violate  those 
courtesies  which  are  not  only  required  by  parliamentary  law,  but  which 
are  urgently  demanded  by  our  feelings  of  personal  respect  and  regard 
for  each  other.     It  is  my  earnest  desire  not  to  do  so  ^       ,  ., 

One  member  of  the  House  met  with  great  applause  when  he  said 
that  the  bill  to  repeal  unconditionally  comes  not  to  destroy  but  to  save 
silver  The  like  sentiment  has  been  uttered  in  this  Chamber  again 
and  again,  and  those  who  have  uttered  it  would,  no  doubt,  feel  greatly 
offended  if  their  sincerity  was  impugned.  Certainly  I  shall  not  do  so, 
but  I  must  point  out  what  I  regard  as  their   inconsistencies.     They 


264  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

declare  they  love  silver  money,  bimetallism  ;  therefore  they  slay  it. 
Thev  want  both  metals  ;  therefore  they  abolish  one.  The  want  gold 
and  silver  coined  on  terms  of  equality,  according  to  their  platform,  and 
so  they  stop  coining  silver  in  order  the  better  to  restore  it. 

They  want  to  maintain  the  parity  between  the  two  metals,  there- 
fore they  cut  the  only  cord  that  holds  silver  up  and  permit  it  to  drop 
out  of  sight  in  the  abyss,  displaying  thereby  the  same  wisdom  which 
was  displayed  by  the  Irishman  who  was  going  down  the  shaft  of  amine 
in  a  bucket,  and  got  scared.  He  shouted  :  "  Haul  me  up,  boys,  haul 
me  up  !  If  you  don't  haul  me  up,  may  the  devil  fly  away  with  me  if  I 
don't  cut  the  rope  !  "  [Laughter.]  Those  of  us  who  claim  to  be  like- 
wise true  friends  of  silver,  but  who  are  misguided  by  our  weak  judg- 
ments, appreciate  this  love  and  tender  care,  and  deplore  it. 

Truly  they  must  love  silver  much,  since  they  chastise  it  much. 
We  v/ill  suppose  a  man  is  ill  and  on  his  bed — the  kind  physicians  doc- 
toring him  in  vain — he  slowly  sinks,  his  pulse  is  low  and  feeble. 
Finally  a  bolder  physician  comes  in  who  practices  on  the  heroic  theory, 
and  he  says  to  the  others,  "  You  are  all  wrong  and  wasting  time  in  try- 
ing to  restore  this  man  by  nursing  and  stimulating  him  ;  he  will  never 
get  up  in  that  way  in  the  world.  Let  us  try  a  new  plan  ;  let  us  cut  his 
throat  and  take  a  new  start ;  we  can  adopt  other  remedies  for  his  restor- 
ation to  life  after  that."     [Laughter.] 

Now,  he  that  believes  it  will  be  easier  to  resurrect  the  dead  body 
of  silver  into  the  full  manhood  of  free  coinage  than  it  will  be  to  keep 
in  the  life  it  already  has  and  strengthen  it  by  the  legislation  which  we 
solemnly  promised  the  people  at  Chicago,  fourteen  months  ago,  let 
him  vote  for  unconditional  repeal  ;  I  shall  not.  I  shall  try  common 
sense  a  little  while  longer.  If  it  be  indeed  decreed  that  silver  money 
is  to  perish,  and  the  world  of  the  producers  and  the  poor  is  to  undergo 
the  travail  and  suffering  and  the  sorrow  of  the  road  which  leads  to  a 
single  gold  standard,  it  shall  not  be  my  fault ;  it  shall  not  be  said  of 
me,  "  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  killed  his  friend 
that  he  might  save  his  life."  [Laughter.]  Great,  indeed,  must  be  the 
love  of  these  men  for  silver,  that  they  would  chasten  it  even  unto 
death. 

But  they  deny  that  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  law  means  the  death 
of  silver,  and  I  accord  full  sincerity  in  this  belief  to  all  who  are  and 
have  been  real  friends  to  silver.  There  is  no  telling  what  a  man  can 
not  bring  himself  to  believe  if  much  depends  on  it.  But  can  there  be  a 
doubt-of  this  ?  Let  us  see.  It  stops  the  coinage  of  silver  in  terms  ; 
there  is  no  doubt  about  that  much.  It  will  also  cause  a  great  fall  in 
the  bullion  price  of  silver  ;  neither  can  there  be  an}-  doubt  of  that.  In 
fact,  it  is  admitted  ;  but  just  how  great  that  fall  will  be  is  somewhat 
conjectural. 

The  stoppage  of  not  all  coinage,  but  free  coinage  in  India  alone, 
caused  a  fall  of  about  20  cents  an  ounce,  and  Lord  Lansdowne  said  that 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  265 

the  action  of  the  Indian  council  was  a  defensive  measure  made  neces- 
sary by  the  expected  action  of  the  United  vStates  in  repealing  the 
Sherman  law  and  ceasing  to  coin  it  altogether.  This  shows  that  the 
expected  fall  consequent  on  our  legislation  was  to  be  great,  as  it  neces- 
sitated this  important  move  by  the  council  of  India.  The  fall  will 
certainly  be  equal  to  that  which  followed  the  action  of  the  Indian  coun- 
cil. In  my  opinion  it  will  be  even  greater,  for  our  annual  purchase  of 
silver  exceeded  the  coinage  of  India. 

After  we  shall  have  repealed  the  silver-purchase  law  and  substi- 
tuted nothing  to  uphold  it  as  a  money  metal,  silver  will,  in  my  opinion, 
sink  to  the  level  of  the  demand  which  is  created  by  its  use  in  the  arts 
and  the  necessity  of  occasionally  replenishing  the  subsidiary  or  token 
money  of  the  countries  so  using  it,  estimated  at  about  $555,000,000,  as 
before  stated,  or  about  one-eighth  of  the  silver  money  now  in  use. 
Seven-eighths  of  the  demand,  therefore,  being  thus  abolished,  natural 
economic  laws  would  justify  us  in  saying  that  the  price  would  be  re- 
duced in  the  same  proportion  ;  but  to  the  figures  thus  arrived  at  must 
be  added  whatever  would  be  created  by  the  demand  for  its  use  in  the 
arts. 

Will  not  our  remaining  silver  dollar  participate  in  this  decline  ? 
If,  while  sustained  by  a  coinage  law  and  made  a  legal  tender,  our  dol- 
lar is  denounced  as  dishonest  and  as  only  having  a  bullion  value  of  53 
cents,  what  will  be  said  of  it  when  the  bullion  of  it  is  worth  only  about 
30  cents  ?  If  now,  our  own  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will  not  tender 
it  in  discharge  of  silver  obligations,  what  will  become  of  it  in  the  trad- 
ing world  when  it  strikes  the  bottom  ;  and  what  must  be  thought  of  a 
Senator  or  Congressman  who  asserts  that  immediately  after  its  repeal 
our  remaining  dollar  will  become  equal  to  a  gold  dollar,  and  the  parity 
will  be  complete  ?  Is  that  what  the  Chicago  platform  meant,  that  you 
should  make  silver  dollars  so  scarce  that  the  parity  with  gold  would  be 
equal  ?  Is  that  what  it  means  when  saying  "  We  hold  to  the  use  of 
both  gold  and  silver  ?  " 

If  so,  then  all  the  world  is  bimetallic,  for  all  use  both,  and  the 
people  were  deceived.  Did  it  mean  by  coining  no  silver  that  we  should 
thereby  make  no  discrimination  against  either  metal  ?  Did  the  plat- 
form mean  that  we  should  first  cut  off  the  coinage  of  silver  and  then 
show  no  discrimination,  but  coin  equally  of  both  ?  After  that,  when 
the  platform  said,  "  That  the  dollar  unit  of  all  coinage  of  both  metals 
must  be  of  equal  intrinsic  and  exchangeable  value,"  did  it  mean  that 
we  must  first  reduce  by  hostile  legislation  the  intrinsicor  bullion  value 
of  silver  so  low  as  to  render  the  carrying  out  of  that  pledge  an  impos- 
sibility ?  And  when  it  says  that  this  intrinsic  and  interchangeable  value 
is  "to  be  adjusted  through  international  agreement,"  did  it  mean  that 
we  should  first  increase  the  disparity  to  the  extent  of  making  silver 
worth   only  about  30  cents  an  ounce,  or  40  to  i  of  gold,  in  order  to 


266  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

facilitate  the  task  of  getting  foreign  nations  to  agree  to  coin  it  with  us 
at  isVz  to  I  ? 

And  failing  in  that,  when  the  platform  goes  on  to  sa}',  "  or  by  such 
safeguards  of  legislation  as  shall  insure  the  maintenance  of  the  parity 
of  the  two  metals  in  equal  power  of  every  dollar  at  all  times  in  the 
markets  and  in  the  payment  of  debts,"  did  it  mean  that  these  legisla- 
tive safeguards  should  be  applied  whilst  the  silver  dollar  was  still 
alive,  so  as  to  help  to  maintain  its  parity  w4th  gold,  or  after  its  coinage 
was  stopped  and  its  intrinsic  value  was  reduced  so  that  it  was  virtually 
dead  ?  Was  it  an  invitation  to  the  nuptial  ceremonies  of  the  two  metals, 
or  was  it  a  notice  to  attend  the  funeral  of  silver  ?  And  did  it  mean 
that  it  should  be  good  in  payment  of  the  public  debts,  or  only  debts 
among  private  parties  and  the  small  fry  ? 

Was  that  a  wink  with  a  golden  eye  to  the  bondholder  and  a  broad, 
silver  smile  to  the  common  people,  who  love  the  old  dollar  ?  And 
when  the  platform  denounced  the  Sherman  law  as  "  a  cowardly  make- 
shift," did  it  mean  a  makeshift  for  free  coinage  of  silver,  or  the  use  of 
gold? — a  makeshift  for  bimetallism  or  monometallism?  "Under 
which  king,  Bezonian  ?     Speak  or  die  !  "     [Laughter.] 

If  the  framers  of  that  plank  meant  that  it  was  a  cowardly  make- 
shift for  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  is  not  the  bill  for  its  repeal,  without 
a  line  in  its  place,  a  greater  coward  and  a  worse  makeshift  ?  Is  not  the 
coinage  of  54,000,000  ounces  per  annum  nearer  to  free  coinage  than  the 
coining  of  none  ?  If  it  was  meant  that  it  was  a  cowardly  makeshift  for 
gold  monometallism,  is  not  the  language  of  the  platform  itself  both  a 
cowardly  and  a  lying  makeshift  for  the  truth  ? 

Finally,  if  the  language  of  the  platform  taken  altogether  means 
only  that  we  are  to  oblige  the  bankers,  bondholders  and  stockbrokers 
first,  by  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Sherman  law,  accompanied  only 
by  a  short  stump  speech  in  the  belly  of  the  act,  saying  that  it  is  our 
policy  at  some  future  time — the  Lord  know^s  when — to  do  something 
further — the  Lord  knows  what  [laughter] — in  the  direction  of  carry- 
ing out  the  other  promises  of  the  platform — are  not  the  makers  and 
upholders  of  that  declaration  of  policy  and  purposes  open  to  the 
charge  of  insincerity  and  of  so  framing  words  as  to  deceive  the  people 
wdiose  suffrage  they  w-ere  seeking  ? 

If  such  an  interpretation  of  the  platform  as  is  contended  for  here 
by  those  who  will  vote  for  repeal,  and  presumably  by  the  President, 
had  been  announced  during  the  campaign  of  last  year,  I  am  quite  sure 
Mr.  Cleveland  would  not  have  carried  my  State  by  50,000  votes,  and  I 
believe  he  could  not  have  carried  a  single,  solitary  electoral  vote  south 
of  the  Potomac  River — not  one.  But  it  is  said  that  there  is  no  aban- 
donment of  the  Chicago  platform  in  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  law,  but  only  a  postponement,  and  that  the  bill  itself  con- 
tains a  reaffirmation  of  those  promises. 

Mr.  President,   I  wonder  if  in  any  of  our  political  literature,  rich 


LIFE   OF  VANCK.  267 

asitisiningeuuity  and  device,  full  as  it  is  of  eloquence  and  true 
tenlus,  overburdened  as  it  is  with  every  conceivable  and  mconcewable 
Form  of  wildcatisn:  atul  hun.buggery  which  a  ^-f^^  years  of  free 
government,  wherein  men  of  all  opinions  have  had  a  chance  to  venti- 
fate  them,  hkve  produced-I  wonder,  I  say,  if  anyth^ng  xs  to  be  found 
on  all  its  pages  approaching  in  absurdity  to  the  incorporating  in  this 
bUl  of  a  par?  of  the  Chicago  platform  ?  Was  there  ever  a  cat  trotting 
thron<^h  the  tangled  thickets  of  the  Alleghenies,  or  roaming  over  the 
barren  wilds  of  fhe  Rocky  Mountains,  so  wild  and  untamable  as  this 
cat'  [Laughter.]  Was  there  ever  any  bug  discovered  and  classified 
by  science  ^ith  a  hum  equal  to  the  hum  of  this  bug  ?     [^^-f  ^-'l 

The  representatives  of  the  Democratic  party  assembled  m  conven- 
tion in  Chicago  in  1892,  as  they  had  done  in  St.  Louis  in  1888  and  be- 
fore that  in  Chicago  in  1884,  and  made  certain  pledges  to  the  people 
that  they  would  make  certain  financial  reforms  if  the  people  would 
only  put  them  in  power  where  they  could  enact  laws  Among  other 
thLgs  the  last  convention  held  at  Chicago  pledged  the  American 
Democracy  that  if  intrusted  with  power  they  would  enact  such  laws  as 
would  epLl  the  Sherman  act-secure  us  the  use  of  both  gold  and  sil- 
ver in  our  currency-coin  it  on  equal  terms,  and  maintain  the  parity 
If  the  two.  These  promises  were  contained  m  one  paragraph  and 
:  nsistently  with  good  faith  are  not  separable.  They  const^tute^^^^^ 
scheme  by  which  the  financial  policy  of  the  country  ^^^  ^o  be  re 
formed,    Ind    honor   and   fair   dealing  require  it  to    be  carried    out 

'''''  Wen,  the  people  trusted  and  believed;  the  Democrats  were  put 
in  power  and  Mr.  Cleveland,  though  known  to  be  personally  hostile 
to  ?he  us;  of  silver,  was  elected  b*ause  the  people  believed  that  he 
would  carry  out  in  good  faith  the  promises  made  for  him  m  the  plat- 
form, and  to  which  he  had  acceded  in  his  letter  of  acceptance. 
^  For  the  first  time  in  thirty-three  years  the  Democratic  party  was 
intrusted  with  the  power  of  enacting  laws.  Now,  in  fulfillment  of 
these  promises,  the  first  thing  which  is  done  is  to  yield  to  the  clamor 
of  the'^apitalists  hostile  to  silver,  and  anticipate  the  regular  session  of 
Congress  for  the  sole  purpose  of  stopping  the  coinage  of  silver  and 

"°'1c?oXgly.   the  House,  hastening  to  obey,  has  sent  such  a  bill 
■       over  to  this  bod';,  and  anticipating  its  action,  the  Finance  Commit  ee 
had  introduced  a  similar  bill  for  its  repeal,  so  that  we  have  two  bill 
p  ncing  before  us  on  the  subject  of  the  Sherman  law,  and  the  repea 
fs  likely  to  be  carried  out  in  some  shape.     By  the  way    I  have  never 
known  a  Senator  more  anxious  for  the  undoing  of  that  action  than 
that  Senator.     It  is  a  confession  that  he  is  wrong  and  it  is  an  appeal 
from  hTs  conscience  and  seems  to  say  to  the  court,  "  Hurry  up   3udge 
I  am  a  great  criminal  ;  let  there  be  no  delay  ;  do  not  even  let  the  jury 
have  water. ' '     [Laughter.] 


268  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

But  what  about  the  remainder  of  the  platform  ?  The  same  bill — 
almost  the  same  strokes  of  the  same  pen  could  have  inserted  an  addi- 
tional provision  looking  in  the  direction  of  coining  silver  on  equal 
terms  with  gold,  maintaining  its  parity,  etc.  But  instead  of  that  we 
give  the  stockbrokers  and  the  gamblers  and  the  banks  by  this  bill  all 
they  want,  and  we  put  off  the  American  people  with  still  another 
promise.  We  pay  the  gold  bugs  cash  and  pay  the  people  with  another 
paper  promise  redeemable  at  the  option  of  the  makers.    [Laughter.] 

Now,  if  the  promises  at  Chicago  were  not  good,  how  would  the 
promises  inserted  in  the  law  become  any  better.  It  might,  indeed,  be 
good  for  another  promise,  and  so  on  an  iJifinitiini,  as  we  see  tickets 
on  steamboats  sometimes,  "  Good  for  six  days  at  the  bar  ;"  only  there 
the  drinks  are  paid  for  already. 

How  long  are  we  to  postpone  the  people  ?  How  long  dare  we  do 
it  ?  No  one  says  what  we  are  to  give  them  in  fulfillment  of  our 
pledges  after  repeal.  There  is  no  intimation  that  anything  more  is  to 
be  given  in  the  message  which  the  President  addressed  to  us  ;  not  a 
whisper. 

He  does  intimate  a  little  that  in  due  time  we  will  take  hold  of  the 
McKinle}'  tariff  law,  but  as  for  anything  more  for  silver — say  nothing 
but  good  of  the  dead.  Requiescat  in  pace,  "or  words  to  that  effect." 
[Laughter.] 

Even  those  promises  contained  in  the  bill  given  in  renewal  are  of 
so  general  a  nature  that  they  may  be  easily  evaded  as  amounting  to 
nothing  definite.  In  a  court  of  law  they  would  be  held  void  for  un- 
certainty. If  it  is  really  our  intention  to  enact  these  laws  as  we 
promised,  why  not  do  it  now  ? 

We  are  in  possession  of  the  en^re  lawmaking  department  of  the 
government.  The  same  power  which  can  enact  this  bill  into  a  law 
could  so  enact  other  things  promised,  if  only  "Barkis  is  willin'."  In 
fact,  there  would  be  a  greater  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Democracy  if 
this  bill  were  coupled  with  provisions  carrying  out  the  platform,  for, 
in  that  case,  I  do  not  suppose  there  is  a  Democrat  in  either  House 
that  would  refuse  to  support  it.  I  repeat,  if  we  are  in  good  faith,  why 
not  do  it  now  ?  "  Now  is  the  accepted  time,"  and  "  now  is  the  day  of 
salvation  ;  "  "  to-daj',  if  yoti  will  hear  the  voice  of  the  people,  harden 
not  your  hearts" — "here  is  water,  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be 
baptized  ?  " 

Is  it  to  be  done  hereafter  ?  Who  says  so  with  authority  to  speak  ? 
Who  says  so  with  authority  to  give  an  assurance  that  it  can  be  done  at 
all  if  postponed  ?  Is  it  not  about  all  many  can  do  to  give  assurance  of 
their  own  votes  a  little  way  ahead  ?  How  do  we  know  that  when 
some  other  bill  comes  up  for  the  benefit  of  capital  these  threadbare 
and  contemptible  promises  to  pay  will  not  pop  up  again  like  Jack-in- 
a-box  as  a  su1)stitute  for  the  performance  ?  If  we  let  go  what  we  have 
before  we  get  something  else  in  exchange,  how  shall  we  justify   our- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  269 

„„t  '*;:  'r^^eT.  rjcu  <  f!?:::'  z^Ln..  r..,  .now  ^  <».  „ot 

«tTo  k   "n   tins  country,  because  in  ...e  face  of  their  P"'-';™- 
hey  fee  that  gold  is  returning  in  obedience  '<>   -■'=»-''"°^"  '"lonfi 
trade   and  all'that  they  now  hang  upon  is  >''='  "■7.  J-=,,";',„  ^'t 
deuce"   in  the  government  of  their  country  that  ''"'""*"'"" 

Er'^s=rft^";si-::^h:;^95^ 

of  the  President:  every  day  redeeming  silver  obligations  .n  gold,  even 

--^^^-^ZT::^  :;:rtr t^^pthe  enactn^.. 
those  laws  which  ought  to  come  concurrent  wUh  t^^  Jf  al  of^^^^ 
Sherman  act,  my  answer-and  with  much  more  -^^  ^^-l.  ^^;;\^  ^^ 
T  have  no  confidence.  When  a  man  promises  me  that  if  I  ^mH  put  mm 
n  a  po^itirwhich  will  enable  him  to  do  so  he  will  V^VJ^^^o^^^^^^^^^ 
dollars,  and  when  I  have  performed  -^  P^^  °^  ^.^^ J^^^^^^^^^^^ 
him  in  that  position  and  he  refuses  to  pay  me,  -<^^  ^P^^f  ^^^;\°;;^:^ 
to  some  other  purpose,  and  proposes  to  P-""-  "^  ^^^\^^  !nd  respon 
again,  I  refuse  to  accept  his  promise  as  that  of  an  honest  and  resp 
sible  man ;  my  confidence  is  gone.  ,        ^       e^. 

The  Senator  from  Georgia  [Mr.  Gordon]   who  '"'^''l^l'J^^ ^^^^ 

:'uSr;:-^^,:;^:f^rx 

"°=°°,f  tttie^arof  bimeXu.  are  strong  enough  to  i,.pose  condi 
tions  on  the  repealing  bill,  will  not  that  same  strength  suffice  to  euact 

"■"rr"pr:id:nrr:;:;H  tell  yon  why  I  halt  between  conditional  and 
unconditiral  rep;al.  Unconditional  repeal  is  """;/;;;--' J^^ 
der.     lu  the  first  place,  by  conditional  repeal  we  unite  "«  De".«r^''; 

L-hrrxir^:;::^ir;i;L^:rrecoi^^^^^^^^^^^ 

"^tre'V^ldt:   if   we  repeal  without    -ing    other    things 
which  we  promised   the   people   at   Chicago   we   would     »•    -■* 
that    Senator   nor   any   other   can  give   -=""'"«„*'"    '^"'s,°ltor 
things    will    ever    become    a    law  in  separ.ite    bills.       The    beuator 
S   know   that   every   gold  mouometallist  in  the    House   voted 


270  WFE   OF  VANCE. 

for  unconditional  repeal  as  everyone  in  this  body  will,  and  against 
the  coinage  of  another  silver  dollar  at  any  ratio  whatever — in- 
cluding the  resurrection  of  the  Bland-Allison  act  of  coining  2,000,000  a 
month.  Where  then  can  be  found  evidence  of  the  strength  for  a  sep- 
arate bill,  favorable  to  silver  in  that  body  ?  It  has  been  tested  ;  ours 
has  not.  And  should  such  a  bill  pass  that  body  and  this  one,  can  that 
Senator  give  us  any  assurance  that  it  would  not  meet  its  death  blow 
elsewhere  ?  We  have  every  reason,  as  he  has,  to  know  that  it  would; 
therefore,  as  it  seems  to  me,  to  vote  for  unconditional  repeal,  in  the 
face  of  these  undeniable  facts,  amounts  to  an  unconditional  surrender, 
a  giving  up  of  the  cause  of  silver,  which  we  all  profess  to  love,  and  an 
abandonment  of  our  promises  to  the  people  that  we  would  do  every- 
thing to  maintain  it  that  was  necessary  to  be  done  by  legislation.  The 
Senator  also  saj's  that  it  is  perfectly  immaterial  whether  the  panic  was 
caused  by  legitimate  arguments  or  was  caused  by  the  machinations  of 
designing  men  ;  he  says  the  results  are  upon  us  and  we  must  deal  with 
them. 

It  is  quite  true,  Mr.  President,  that  if  the  panic  is'upon  us  we  must 
do  the  best  we  can  to  evade  its  dangerous  consequences  ;  but  if  there 
should  be  any  suspicion,  as  he  intimates  there  is,  that  it  was  produced 
by  designing  men  for  a  manifest  purpose,  it  strikes  me  that  it  is  neither 
prudent  nor  agreeable  to  common  sense  for  us  to  hasten  to  do  the  very 
thing  which  the  designing  men  have  designed.  It  simply  means  this, 
as  put  by  the  Senator  :  Some  people  say  there  is  a  pit  dug  hereabouts 
to  entrap  us.  Now,  it  is  perfectly  immaterial  to  me  whether  there  is 
any  pit  here  or  not.  I  am  going  to  jump  in  anyway.  If  there  is  no  pit 
there,  all  right  ;  if  there  is  one,  when  I  plunge  in  I  will  know  it. 

Now,  these  Senators  who  sacrifice  their  cherished  convictions  for 
the  taking  of  this  leap,  it  seems  to  me,  must  be  under  a  great  panic, 
indeed.  The  gallant  gentleman  was  not  wont  to  be  stampeded  by  the 
popping  of  a  cap.  I  can  not  refrain  from  quoting  some  of  the  elo- 
quence of  that  Senator,  which  meets  not  only  with  my  approbation, 
but  highest  admiration  as  a  literary  performance  : 

"Mr.  President,  I  come  now  to  our  next  promise  to  place  gold  and 
silver  upon  the  same  footing.  It  is  safe  to  say,  I  think,  that  bimetal- 
lism was  the  most  popular,  if  not  the  most  potential,  factor  in  the  last 
campaign.  It  was  the  one  plank  common  to  all  national  platforms.  It 
was  the  one  force  which  made  itself  felt  under  all  conditions  and  placed 
its  seal  on  every  party's  banner." 

That  is  true.     He  then  goes  on  to  say : 

"  It  is  true,  sir,  that  these  protestations  and  promises  antedated 
the  election  ;  and  it  may  be  interesting  hereafter  to  compare  votes  in 
Congress  with  votes  in  conventions,  or  party  action  in  Congress  with 
party  promises  in  platforms.  I  fear,  sir,  that  the  contrast  would  put 
to  shame  the  wonder-inspiring  patent-medicine  advertisment,  '  Before 
and  after  taking.'  " 


LIFE  OF   VANCE.  ^yi 

M..  President,  I  a.,  greatly  -npted  to  say  t.,a.  I  fear  the  Se„a^ 

from  Georgia  has  digged  a  P'^"  V.^.  h^s  clu  si  "iU  he  condemned 
votes  for  uneonditonal  repeal  f,""  ^^f^f^.  -;\,,  ,„„g.,,i„d  n,an, 
outofhisownmouth.         And  I,     ^aio^ne  /  ^^^ 

^•ho  accompanied  the  ten.perance  lecturer,      I  goes  along 

frightful  example."     [Laughter.]  ,il,er.     If  the 

^„ninothest      Pededin..v.^^^^^ 

:fr:Zr  met  ui:  alto  /ecessary  that  ^^l-o'd  .nen  shou^  con- 

:iir;r*::Sdrx:tir^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

'°%Trhelie.einhalfthea^^^^^^^^^^^ 

ger  which  are  constantly  thrust  upon  us.  pountrv  will  have 

L.  this  W  - --^^  rrrst  is  over, 

Z7t::Z  to  t'r;  cit!  L^  every  quarter  of  the  country  ev. 

dence  of  renewed  -f  ^^f^^tfaTap-'r^Cme  of  high  authority 
The  Financier  of  ^^^^V     before  vesterday  that  the  banks  of  New 

in  bank  circles,  announced  day  before  ^e^te^^a^  ^ 

Orleans,   Meniphis,  Mobile.  Galveston    and  oth      places  n^      ^  ^^ 

report  that  there  will  be  ^^-^^^^^^f^^^^f '°  ^".^Ing  block  breaks 
Like  a  gorge  of  ice  in  a  river,  once  the  ^J^^  ^^^^^'^^^  is  gone.  Let 
loose,  the  whole  mass  begins  to  move  and  ^^^^l^^^^^^^  |^^  ^  ,^^ 
.,  good  and  valued  friend  ^^^^^^^^T^^on  repeal 
object  of  his  love  and  mine  a  little  while  Ion   er  ^  ^.  i,  „ot 

nght  now,  in  the  face  of  t^^^  admitted  fact  th  f^J^^^  ^^^^^^,_ 
the  cause  of  the  trouble  which  ^^^/°^!f,^^^  .^V^^^substitute  in  cold 
edgement  that  it  can  not  be  repealed  without  ^^^^st  be  done  now- 
blood  and  in  times  of  reasonable  prosperity.     It  must 

right  now,  or  not  at  all.  promises  in  the  bill  that 

Suppose,  sir,  that  we  ^v  ere  t° Jake  th^       ^  ^^^^.^^  ^,t,  ^hat 

at  some  day  the  remainder  of  the  P^f*^/'"  J.,  ^.,      f.^e  coinage  or 

assurance  have  we  that  a  bill  to  provide  for  either  the  free  c         g^^_^ 

the  limited  ^in^.e  of  ^^^  ^^^^^^^^  ^^^^.e  pLsage 

cation  by  any  vote  ot  the  nouse  oi  x>.cp  there  any- 

of  the  h>;i  that  such  a  "l^^^-^tidTnt  orflfr  Xlic  ::;erces,  Ir 
Ln^erTa";  sTo^a"!  Z^Z^^^  to  speaU  for  him  .ho  can  give 

Mr.  rresiaeuL,    wc  „^  ^r  4.i,ic  hill  without  attach- 

strikes  me,  sir,  that  to  P--^^^^-P^^^^f°/Jf,\^    other  legislation 

-uiTrh=:fiit^^^^^^^^^^^ 


272  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

our  ej'es  open  to  the  consequences  ;  we  must  do  it  knowing  that  we 
are  subjecting  ourselves  to  the  serious  accusations  of  our  constituents. 

It  seems  to  me,  sir,  that  the  great  Democratic  party,  which  I  have 
always  supported  because  I  believed  it  to  be  not  only  correct  in  its 
theories  of  government,  but  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  common 
people,  the  masses  of  the  land — it  seems  to  me,  I  sa}',  that  if  we  pass 
this  bill  now  unconditionally,  that  this  great  party  will  then  cease  to 
be  the  people's  friend  and  become  the  subservient  tool  of  combined 
capital,  and  will  constitute  itself  in  its  legislation  the  lineal  and  legit- 
mate  successor  of  the  thirty-three  years  of  that  Republican  rule  which 
we  have  always  heretofore  denounced  as  building  up  the  combinations 
and  corporations  which  have  well-nigh  absorbed  the  wealth  of  our 
country. 

I  speak  plainl}'  upon  this  subject,  Mr.  President,  because  I  feel 
deeply,  I  am  too  old — I  have  been  too  long  in  public  life,  I  have  been 
too  greatly  trusted  and  honored  by  the  people  of  my  State — to  make 
myself  a  party  now  to  anything  which  appears  to  me  may  be  construed 
as  a  want  of  faith  to  public  professions. 

Let  Senators  consider  for  a  moment  the  hopelessness  of  securing 
further  legislation  if  it  can  not  be  secured  in  conjunction  with  this 
repeal.  If  capital  is  once  satisfied  by  the  repeal,  then  to  trust  to  its 
influence  to  secure  what  we  want — what  the  people  want — is  just  an 
appeal  to  the  bowels  of  omniverous  Mammon.  As  well  might  we 
appeal  to  the  mercy  of  the  hungry  tiger,  as  well  might  we  deprecate 
the  unsatisfiable  appetite  of  the  tape-worm. 

The  people  know  this,  Mr.  President.  Of  course  I  impugn  the 
motives  of  no  Senator  ;  they  are  as  honest  as  I  am,  I  hope;  if  they  are 
then  they  are  fairly  honest  men  [laughter]  ;  but  I  am  obliged  to 
impeach  the  judgment  of  those  who  would  take  this  course.  I  think 
it  a  sad  and  fatal  mistake.  The  honest  way  is  the  best  way,  as  we  all 
agree,  if  we  can  find  it,  and  it  seems  to  me  the  fairest  way  of  interpret- 
ing this  platform  is  to  construe  it  as  the  people  understood  it — as  we 
taught  them  to  understand  it,  through  the  press  and  upon  the  hustings 
and  in  every  way  by  which  we  urged  the  campaign,  and  as  I  believe  its 
authors  honestly  intended  it  to  be  understood,  and  that  was  to  repeal 
the  purchasing  act  and  do  all  other  things  necessary  toward  the  pres- 
ervation and  upholding  of  silver  money  before  or  concurrently  with 
the  abolition  of  its  only  hold  on  life.  I  think  the  carrying  out  of  the 
first  pledge  and  stopping  would  make  the  redemption  of  the  others 
impossible  and  the  whole  scheme  look  like  a  fraud. 

What  shall  those  other  things  be  ?  If  I  could  have  my  preference, 
one  should  be  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  money  at  a 
ratio  of  i6  to  i.  Is  this  an  impossibility  ?  Far  from  it.  The  mistake 
of  the  Sherman  law  was  that  it  was  only  a  partial  coinage  of  silver, 
and  therefore  still  left  a  large  quantity  of  metal  on  the  market  for 
which  there  was  no  demand,  and  which  only  served  to  constantly  drag 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  273 

down  the  bullion  price.  I  believe  the  power  and  resources  and  wealth 
of  this  land  to  be  sufficient  to  coin  and  keep  afloat  on  a  parity  with 
gold  all  the  silver  of  the  world  which  would  probably  come  to  it  to  be 
coined. 

The  price  of  any  article,  of  course,  depends  upon  the  demand  for 
it  and  the  supply.  The  chief  demand  for  silver,  as  of  gold,  is  and  has 
been  its  character  as  a  metal  of  which  money  is  made.  It  is  not  the 
use  that  is  made  of  it  in  the  arts  that  gives  it  its  chief  values,  but  the 
fact  that  it  is  used  as  money  in  all  nations  of  the  world  to  a  greater  or 
less  amount.  When  you  destroy  it  as  a  money  metal  you  take  away 
the  chief  demand  for  it,  and,  of  course,  lower  its  price. 

Now,  supposing,  what  is  hardly  supposable,  that  when  we  estab- 
lish free  coinage  at  the  ratio  of  16  to  I,  that  all  the  silver  of  the  world, 
coined  and  uncoined,  were  pouring  into  the  United  States,  in  a  very 
short  time  all  the  nations  which  use  subsidiary  coin  would  be  out  of 
silver,  all  the  nations  which  use  silver  as  a  full  legal  tender,  and  all 
the  peoples  of  the  world  who  use  silver  in  the  arts  and  for  industrial 
purposes,  would  find  themselves  in  the  same  condition,  and  would 
have  to  come  to  the  United  States  for  their  supply  of  silver.  They 
could  buy  it  from  no  man  here  for  less  than  its  coining  value  ;  there- 
fore, throughout  the  world,  it  would  at  once  become  equal  to  gold, 
and  it  would  follow  that  we  would  soon  have  to  supply  the  demand 
for  it  every  country. 

So  soon  as  its  bullion  price  began  to  approach  that  of  gold,  the 
latter  would  come  half-way  down  to  meet  silver  going  up,  then  it  would 
rapidly  flow  out  to  supply  the  coin  demand  of  the  world,  which  would 
once  more  become  bimetallic,  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  No  man 
possessed  of  any  silver  in  other  countries  would  sell  it  for  less  than 
the  coining  price  in  America,  and  so  England  would  have  to  pay  for 
the  silver  with  which  she  supplies  India  the  coining  price  in  the 
United  States,  and  India  would  be  compelled  to  be  supplied  with 
silver,  for  there  is  not  1:900,000,000  of  spare  gold  in  the  world  to 
replace  India's  silver  money. 

It  is  said  that  the  production  would  be  so  great  if  there  was  free 
coinage  and  silver  was  at  its  normal  price  per  ounce  that  the  world 
would  soon  be  flooded  with  it.  I  do  not  believe  that.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  statistics  to  show  that  that  would  be  the  case.  During  the 
period  of  one  hundred  years,  from  1792  to  1892,  the  production  of  gold 
in  the  world  was  15,633,908,000 — the  production  of  silver  was  1:5,104,- 
961,000,  a  difference  of  only  about  1500,000,000  and  that  in  favor  of 
gold  ;  and  we  might  go  further  back  if  the  insufficient  statistics  of  the 
Dark  Ages  could  be  depended  upon,  and  show  generally  that  the  pro- 
duction of  the  two  metals  would  average  about  the  same. 

For  what  reason  is  it  held,  then,  that  this  ratio  of  production  of 
the  two  metals  will  not  continue  to  the  end  ?  Is  not  nature  consistent 
with  herself?     If  the  digging  into   the   earth   for   4,000   years   have 

19 


274  t.l'^'E   OF  VANCE. 

shown  that  there  exists  in  her  bosom  on  the  average  about  fifteen 
times  as  much  silver  by  weight  as  of  gold,  why  should  we  doubt  fu- 
ture development  from  an  accidental  departure  now  and  then  of 
either  metal  from  the  average  proportion  of  forty  centuries  ? 

Surely  the  gold-standard  men  should  give  a  better  reason  for  dis- 
trusting nature  than  some  bankers'  "want  of  confidence." 

A  great  impetus  was  given  to  silver  in  the  era  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  discovery  of  America  and  the  opening  of  the  famous  mines 
of  Mexico  and  South  America.  Discoveries  of  gold  at  the  same  time 
kept  that  metal  pretty  well  up  with  silver. 

A  great  impetus  was  also  given  to  gold  by  the  discoveries  in  Cali- 
fornia and  Australia,  which  made  gold  forge  largely  ahead  of  silver  in 
the  amount  of  production  ;  and  this  continued,  making  silver  at  a  pre- 
mium above  gold,  until  within  the  last  twenty  years,  when  the  devel- 
opment of  the  mines  in  Colorado  and  Nevada  have  put  silver  ahead  in 
the  amount  of  production. 

The  production  of  silver  in  the  United  States  in  the  past  fiscal 
year,  measured  by  its  coining  value,  was  $74,989,900  ;  its  market  value, 
150.750,000,  whilst  the  production  of  gold  was  $33,000,000.  Of  this 
sum  nearly  one-half  of  the  gold  was  used  in  the  arts,  or  |i6,6i6,ooo, 
while  of  silver  there  was  used  in  the  arts  more  than  one-eighth,  or 
$9,106,000,  leaving  altogether  of  gold  and  silver  for  currency  purposes 
only  $81,000,000  for  that  year,  of  which  about  $64,000,000  was  silver. 
A  large  amount  of  this  was  exported  to  supply  other  countries.  The 
total  silver  production  of  the  world  in  1892  was  $196,605,000,  in  round 
numbers. 

I  have  no  reliable  estimate  of  the  amount  of  silver  used  in  the 
world  per  annum  for  industrial  purposes,  but  I  have  never  seen  it 
stated  at  less  than  27  per  cent.,  and  I  do  not  think  that  far  out  of  the 
way  ;  if  anything,  it  is  under  that  mark.  This  would  make  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $53,000,000  of  the  annual  production  of  the  world, 
leaving  something  near  $143,000,000  for  currency  purposes.  This 
would  give  us  about  $143,000,000  of  silver  per  annum  to  dispose  of, 
provided  we  adopt  the  free  coinage  and  all  of  the  silver  of  the  world 
should  come  here  except  that  which  is  used  in  the  arts. 

But  we  know  that  this  is  not  reasonable  or  possible  ;  we  know 
that  the  subsidiary  coinage  of  foreign  countries  would  not  come  here, 
and  that  much  silver  would  be  required  to  supply  that.  We  know 
that  much  more  of  it  would  be  required  to  coin  silver  in  those  coun- 
tries where  it  is  still  legal  tender,  and,  inasmuch  as  the  price  would 
go  up  to  the  coining  value  in  the  United  States,  we  know  that  that 
fact  would  induce  many  nations  to  coin  "more  and  make  it  a  legal 
tender. 

Mr.  President,  I  always  have  believed  that  if  we  were  to  resort  to 
the  free  coinage  of  silver  we  should  have  very  little  more  silver  to 
dispose  of  tlian  we  have  had  to  dispose  of  under  the  purchases  of  the 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  275 

tjhermau  law  ;  and  I  always  have  believed  that  under  that  law,  if  sil- 
ver had  had  a  fair  trial  by  a  friendly  government  and  friendly  oflB- 
cials,  there  would  not  this  day  have  been  the  outcry  against  it  that 
there  is,  and  it  would  not  have  been  held  up  as  a  sample  of  what  our 
danger  would  be  if  we  resorted  to  free  coinage. 

The  idea  so  sedulously  put  forth  that  we  can  not  give  silver  or 
anything  else  a  value  by  law  is  false.  I  fancy  there  is  not  a  manu- 
facturer in  the  United  States  who  has  grown  rich  by  high  tariff  who 
accedes  to  that  proposition.  It  is  true  the  law  of  supply  and  demand 
controls  the  bullion  price  of  silver  as  of  other  things,  but  it  is  also 
true  that  the  demand  is  in  the  control  of  the  government.  Silver  has 
never  at  any  time  time  within  the  last  hundred  years  fallen  in  conse- 
quence of  more  being  produced  than  there  was  an}'  demand  for — it 
has  always  been  depreciated  by  legislation  which  reduced  the  de- 
mand. 

In  the  time  when  the  world  was  filled  with  gold  from  the  mines 
of  Australia  and  California  there  was  no  unfriendly  legislation  against 
gold,  therefore  it  depreciated  very  little.  The  increase  of  enterprises, 
enlarged  commerce,  and  production  absorbed  it  all,  as  I  have  said, 
and  the  world  was  benefitted  thereby.  So,  but  for  unfriendly  legisla- 
tion, would  it  be  with  silver.  If  every  dollar  dug  out  of  the  earth 
was  immediately  coined  and  put  in  circulation,  it  would  impart  the 
same  activity  to  the  world's  industries,  and  would  in  the  same  way 
stimulate  its  energies,  that  the  great  production  of  gold  did. 

It  is  also  lamentably  true,  as  our  people  can  testify  to  their  sor- 
row, that  every  time  a  blow  has  been  stricken  at  their  silver  money 
it  has  also  stricken  the  price  of  their  wheat,  their  cotton,  and  tteir 
grain,  and  everything  else  they  had  to  sell.  The  most  reliable  En- 
glish authorities  that  I  have  consulted  say  "that  from  the  year  1873, 
when  in  consequence  of  the  demonetization  of  silver  in  the  United 
States  and  in  Germany,  the  prices  of  goods  began  to  fall,  and  amounts 
at  this  time  on  the  average  of  goods  to  about  7  shillings  to  the  pound, 
or  one-third,  with  every  prospect  of  that  fall  continuing."  The  same 
authority,  John  Hill  Twigg,  says  that  "the  only  protective  means  of 
stopping  this  fall,  is  to  restore  the  old  law  of  coining  silver  as  freely 
as  gold  and  let  people  pay  their  debts  in  either  metal  at  the  choice  of 
the  debtor." 

Mr.  Cockrell — Will  it  interrupt  the  Senator  to  give  a  state- 
ment of  the  production  and  coinage  of  gold  and  silver  of  the  principal 
countries  of  the  world  from  1873  to  1892  ? 

Mr.  Vance — I  do  not  know  that  it  would,  sir.  I  have  almost 
concluded,  and  if  the  Senator  will  permit  me  I  will  take  his  statement 
and  insert  it  as  a  part  of  my  remarks. 

Mr.  Cockrell — I  was  going  to  read  the  statement. 

Mr.  Vance — Very  well. 

Mr.   Cockrell — The  production    of   gold  was  12,210,961,206,  while 


276  LIFE   OF  VANCF. 

the  coinage  of  gold  was  12,787,714,679,  or  1576,753,473  more  than 
the  entire  production  of  gold.  The  production  of  silver  was  $2,400,- 
760,533,  while  the  coinage  of  silver  in  the  world  during  the  same 
period  was  $2,322,603,351,  leaving  only  about  $78,000,000  of  silver  un- 
coined during  the  whole  time. 

Mr.  Vance— I  am  much  obliged  to  the  Senator  for  his  state- 
ment.    It  is  in  the  line  of  my  remarks. 

An  ingenuous  writer  in  the  Journal  of  American  Politics  for  Sep- 
tember, 1893,  Mr.  George  Canning  Hill,  estimates  upon  a  very  reason- 
able basis  that  the  loss  of  Southern  planters  on  cotton  alone,  from 
1873  to  1890,  has  been  at  least  •$83,000,000  per  year,  or  $1,410,000,000  in 
seventeen  years.  For  the  same  period  he  estimates  the  loss  of  the 
wheat-growers  of  the  United  States  at  $100,000,000  per  annum,  or  |i,- 
700,000,000  for  the  seventeen  years.  These  are  samples  of  what  has 
been  inflicted  on  the  people  by  the  wicked  war  on  silver  money  ;  and 
the  estimate  may  be  continued  by  a  consideration  of  all  other  leading 
articles  of  production  of  field  and  forest  and  mine. 

Nor  is  gold  more  stable  as  a  standard  than  silver.  Hear  what  a 
distinguished  English  statesman  says.  Mr.  Balfour,  in  October,  1892, 
used  the  following  wise  and  timely  language,  showing  that  gold  is 
less  stable  than  silver  : 

But  there  is  another  point,  namely,  the  utility  of  our  monetary 
system  as  a  permanent  record  of  debts  and  obligations,  lasting 
through  long  periods  of  time.  Can  we  claim  that  great  quality  for  a 
standard  which  monometallists  admit  has  appreciated  in  some  fifteen 
to  sixteen  years  no  less  than  30  to  35  per  cent.,  and  of  whose  appre- 
ciation no  man  living  can  prophesy  the  limits  ?  A  monetary  standard 
of  which  this  can  be  said  does  not  fulfill  the  very  elementary  qualities 
which  we  require  in  a  monetary  standard. 

I  have  no  desire  for  inflation.  Give  me  a  standard  that  will  re- 
main constant  and  I  ask  no  more,  but  do  not  put  me  off  with  a  stand- 
ard which  rises  35  per  cent,  in  fifteen  or  sixteen  years.  If  I  have  to 
choose,  if  I  am  given  the  unwelcome  choice  between  a  standard 
which  appreciates  and  a  standard  which  depreciates,  between  a  sys- 
tem under  which  prices  are  lowered  and  a  system  under  which  prices 
are  raised,  then,  in  the  interest  of  every  class  in  the  community,  not 
excluding  the  owners  of  fixed  debts,  give  me  a  standard  which  depre- 
ciates and  give  me  prices  which  rise. 

Of  all  conceivable  systems  of  currency  that  system  is  assuredly 
the  worst  which  gives  you  a  standard  steadily,  continuously,  and  in- 
definitely appreciating,  and  which,  by  that  very  fact,  throws  a  burden 
on  every  man  who  desires  to  promote  the  agricultural  or  industrial 
welfare  of  his  country,  and  benefits  no  human  being  whatever,  except 
the  owner  of  fixed  debts  in  gold. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  greater  fluctuations  in  the  supply  of 
gold  have  been  experienced  in  the  history  of  the  two  metals  than  has 


WFE  OF  VANCE.  277 

ever  occurred  to  silver.  From  1S51  to  1871,  a  period  of  twenty  years 
alone,  the  gold  produced  in  California  and  Australia  amounted,  by- 
careful  estimate,  to  at  least  |i2, 500,000,000,  a  sum  that  was  about  equal 
to  the  world's  stock  already  on  hand.  In  twenty  years  the  gold  sup- 
ply of  the  world  was  doubled — a  thing  that  never  happened  to  sil- 
ver— yet  the  whole  of  it  was  quickly  absorbed  in  the  circulation  of  the 
world,  and  no  attempt  was  made  to  demonetize  gold.  There  were  a 
few  men,  about  as  wise  in  their  generation  as  those  who  have  recently 
tried  to  degrade  silver,  who  did  speak  of  demonetizing  gold  ;  but  it 
was  not  done,  except  in  one  or  two  small  European  States. 

It  is  strange  to  me  that  this  is  not  perceptible  to  every  thinking 
man,  and  it  is  still  stranger  to  me  that  men  will  undertake  to  prove 
the  impossibility  of  our  maintaining  the  value  and  parity  with  gold 
of  an  honored  silver  dollar  supported  by  the  law  and  pledged  faith  of 
a  great  nation,  by  constantly  citing  the  example  of  the  difficulty  of 
maintaining  a  discredited  and  abused  dollar  with  all  the  world  and  its 
own  government  at  the  head  denouncing  it  as  dishonest. 

We  must  take  into  consideration,  also,  in  arriving  at  a  fair  conclusion 
on  this  subject,  the  possibility  of  maintaining  silver  on  a  free  coinage 
basis,  that  even  should  the  supply  of  silver  supposed  to  exist  in  our 
mines  within  reach  of  the  miners  be  as  great  as  it  is  alleged  to  be,  yet 
the  total  production  would  not  keep  pace  with  the  increase  of  the 
population,  of  commerce,  of  railroad  lines,  the  growth  of  cotton,  of 
grain,  or  of  pig  iron  in  the  United  States.  To  calculate  upon  a  supplj' 
of  silver  or  anything  else  upon  the  basis  that  population  and  human 
energy  will  stand  still  in  our  country  is,  of  course  erroneous.  I  reckon, 
likewise,  it  will  have  to  be  admitted  that  in  regard  to  stability  silver, 
measured  by  the  chief  products  of  commerce,  has  been  infinitely  more 
stable  than  gold,  and  these  staple  products  are  the  true  measurers  of 
both  gold  and  silver  and  not  one  for  the  other. 

Complaint  is  sometimes  made  in  this  Chamber,  as  elsewhere,  of 
the  hardship  attending  the  fact  that  capitalists  have  to  be  governed 
like  other  people,  and  that  it  is  hard  for  a  man's  earnings  or  accumu- 
tions  to  be  subjected  to  the  casualties  and  incidents  of  a  presidential 
or  congressional  election.  There  seems  to  be  an  idea  that,  so  far  as 
capital  is  concerned.  Prince  Bismarck  was  right  when  he  said  that 
"  man  could  not  be  governed  from  below." 

And  a  Mr.  Horace  White,  who  assumes  to  be  an  authority  on 
financial  questions,  said  in  the  Forum  of  August,  1893,  that  it  was 
perhaps  happy  for  a  people  like  India  that  its  high  finances  should  be 
directed  only  by  a  few,  all  of  which  means  that  the  man  who  has  only 
a  debased  silver  dollar  or  a  token  50-cent  coin  in  the  world  should  not 
be  permitted,  through  his  Representatives  here,  to  have  any  say  in  the 
laws  which  are  required  to  govern  capital,  or,  in  other  words,  he 
should  not  be  allowed  to  dabble  in  "  high  finance."  I  do  not  subscribe 
to  such  doctrines.     If  we  are  Democrats  we  will  not  believe  it  or  utter 


278  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

it,  but  try  to  treat  every  man  as  having  an  interest  in  this  government 
and  a  right  to  participate  therein,  and  endeavor  with  all  our  power  to 
educate  him  in  his  great  duties. 

Mr.  President,  I  fancy  that  those  who  are  shouting  over  the  action 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  passing  the  bill  to  repeal  this  law 
without  conditions,  and  are  glorifying  the  President  for  calling  us 
together  and  giving  us  a  message  containing  no  recommendation  except 
to  repeal  this  law — I  fancy  they  little  know  what  is  before  them.  The 
doctrines  of  Prince  Bismarck  and  Horace  White  have  not  yet  become 
a  part  of  the  common  law  of  America  ;  thank  God,  there  remain  others 
to  be  consulted  besides  those  professors  of  "high  finance." 

It  was  said  that  the  string  of  the  bow  of  Ulysses  warned  him  of 
approaching  danger  by  singing  a  song  of  battle  and  of  strife.  Let  me 
say  to  those  conspirators  against  the  welfare  of  the  common  people, 
that  before  they  shall  finally  succeed  in  their  unhallowed  designs, 
and  drive  them  through  "  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  "  to  attain 
the  single  gold  standard,  in  order  that  the  conspirators  may  grow  rich 
on  human  suffering,  they  will  see  many  a  field  of  political  battle  and 
hear  the  roar  of  much  political  strife. 

In  this  fair  land  the  thunderbolts  of  Jove  dwell  still  with  those 
whose  voice  is  as  the  voice  of  God,  and  the  bow  of  Ulysses  is  yet  in 
the  people's  hands,  and  its  quiver  is  filled  with  death-dealing  darts. 
Its  strings  will  yet  sing  many  a  song  of  battle  to  awaken  the  sleeping 
people,  and  upon  every  plain  and  in  every  valley  and  upon  every 
mountain  side,  from  shore  to  shore  of  our  inclosing  seas,  they  will 
spring  to  their  feet  at  the  calling  of  that  music,  wdth  a  light  of  conflict 
on  their  faces  and  the  resolve  of  victory  in  their  hearts.  In  that  day 
it  would  be  better  for  some  of  those  who  have  joined  in  the  fight 
against  the  money  of  the  poor,  "that  a  millstone  had  been  hanged 
about  their  necks  and  they  had  been  cast  into  the  midst  of  the  sea." 

Many  a  defeated  statesman  of  this  great  fight,  when  he  looks  into 
the  faces  of  those  who  overthrew  him  in  that  strife,  will  be  surprised 
to  behold  not  the  faces  of  his  old  political  enemies,  but  those  of  his 
own  indignant  neighbors  and  heretofore  friends,  who  will  say  to  him, 
"  We  followed  your  example  ;  we  loved  you  and  believed  the  best  way 
to  serve  you  was  to  kill  you." 

Surely  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  of  humanity  are  broken  up 
and  the  hearts  of  men  are  stirred  within  them  as  they  have  never 
been  stirred  before  since  the  civil  war.  The  great  fight  is  on  ;  the 
power  of  money  and  its  allies  throughout  the  world  have  entered  into 
this  conspiracy  to  perpetrate  the  "  greatest  crime  of  this  or  any  other 
age,"  to  overthrow  one-half  of  the  world's  money,  and  thereby  double 
their  own  wealth  by  the  enhancing  in  value  of  the  other  half,  which 
is  in  their  hands. 

The  money  changers  are  polluting  the  temple  of  our  liberties. 
"  To  your  tents,  O  Israel  !  "     [Applause  in  the  galleries.] 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  279 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

HIS  ATTITUDE  TOWARDS  THK  FARMERS  ALLIANCE. 

Always  Friend  of  the  Farmers— Advised  Organization,  but  Gave  Warn- 
ing Against  Entering  Politics— Falsely  Accused  of  Knuckling  to 
the  Alliance— Opposed  Sub-Treasury  Scheme — So  Stated  on  In- 
troducing the  Bill— Letter  to  Beddingfield— Letter  to  Carr,  Presi- 
dent State  Alliance — Correspondence  as  to  Duty  to  Obey  Instruc- 
tions— Refusal  to  Accept  Nomination  on  the  Demands  as  Instruc- 
tions— Modified  Resolutions  Passed  to  Suit  His  Views — Letters 
from  Sam'l  L.  Patterson  and  Ex-Governor  Jarvis — Vance's  Address 
to  the  People  in  September,  1892 — Prophetic  Views — His  Letter  to 
Elliott,  President  Mecklenburg  County  Alliance— His  Reasons — 
His  Consistency— His  Argument  Against  the  Constitutionality  of 
the  Sub-Treasury  Scheme. 

¥ANCE'S  course  in  reference  to  the  Farmers'  Alliance 
has  been  the  subject  of  much  criticism  even  amono- 
his  warmest  friends  and  supporters.  Many  hard  thino-s 
were  said  about  him  in  the  newspapers  of  his  own  party, 
giving  him  very  great  pain  and  annoyance.  He  was 
charged  with  knuckling  to  the  Alliance  in  order  to  keep 
them  in  line  for  him  that  he  might  retain  his  place  in  the 
Senate.  He  was  accused  of  playing  fast  and  loose  with 
the  Sub-Treasury  scheme  and  of  being  inconsistent  and  in- 
sincere, introducing  a  bill  in  its  behalf  and  then  failing  to 
push  it  or  support  it.  And  some  of  his  critics  went  so  far 
as  to  say  he  had  gone  back  on  the  professions  and  prin- 
ciples of  a  lifetime  in  his  efforts  to  retain  the  friendship 
and  support  of  the  Alliance — in  the  parlance  of  the  day 
that  he  "ate  dirt  copiously  "  before  the  Alliance  Legislature 
of  1891,  in  promising  to  support  the  Alliance  doctrines  and 
demands  in  order  to  get  their  support,  nearly  the  entire 
Democratic  membership  of  that  body  being  members  of  the 
Alliance. 

It  is  strange  that,  in  the  light  of  the  actual   facts,  such 


28o  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

erroneous  impressions  should  prevail,  and  that  the  position 
of  a  public  man  who  had  been  so  thoroughly  open  and 
candid  as  Vance  always  was,  could  be  so  misunderstood  and 
misrepresented. 

He  was  not  only  not  inconsistent  in  his  course  towards 
the  Alliance,  but  he  never  wavered  or  changed  his  opinion 
nor  in  any  sense  deviated  from  a  direct  course  of  conduct 
from  beginning  to  end.  He  not  only  never  '^got  down  on 
his  knees  and  ate  dirt"  to  please  the  Alliance,  but  when  they 
sought  to  gag  him  with  "demands"  which  he  had  from  the 
start  told  them  he  could  not  support,  he  defied  them,  and 
refused  to  accept  the  nomination  at  their  hands,  and  they 
were  constrained  and  obliged  to  modify  their  instructions  so 
as  to  conform  fully  to  his  oft-expressed  views.  These  facts 
will  be  fully  established  by  what  follows. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  was  always  in  sympathy 
with  the  masses,  the  laboring  and  farming  classes,  and  this 
was  in  a  great  measure  the  secret  of  his  power  and  popularity 
with  them.  Seeing  the  drift  and  tendency  of  economic 
conditions  and  firmly  believing  that  the  protective  tariff 
was  enriching  the  few  and  impoverishing  the  many,  he  had 
been  for  years  advising  the  farmers  to  organize  in  order  to 
defend  themselves  against  the  organizations  of  various 
kinds  among  the  non-producers  adverse  in  their  objects  and 
tendencies  to  the  interests  of  the  farmers;  still  he  warned 
them  again  and  again  of  the  danger  of  such  organization 
becoming  political,  and  with  prophetic  wisdom  he  predicted 
the  ruinous  consequences  of  any  attempt  on  their  part  to 
set  up  a  new  political  party.  He  firmly  believed  after  early 
and  careful  investigation  that  the  sub-treasury  scheme  as  con- 
tended for  by  the  Alliance  was  unconstitutional  as  well  as 
impracticable,  and  he  said  so  repeatedly  and  emphatically. 
Nor  did  he  favor  the  purchase  by  the  Government  of  the 
railroads  and  telegraph  lines,  nor  the  abolition  of  national 
banks  till  a  suitable  substitute  could  be  provided,  and  he 
expressed  his  views  as  to  these  features  of  the  "demands" 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  28l 

equally  without  reserve.  He  agreed  with  the  Alliance,  or 
rather  it  agreed  with  him,  in  favor  of  the  free  coinage  of 
silver,  an  increase  of  the  volume  of  currency,  and  in 
opposing  a  monopoly  on  part  of  the  National  Banks  of  the 
privilege  of  issuing  paper  money  and  the  consequent  power 
to  expand  and  contract  the  currency  at  will.  And  these 
opinions  and  views  he  uttered  with  like  candor  and 
emphasis;  indeed  they  were  the  principles  which  he  had  been 
contending  for  throughout  his  political  career  of  the  j)ast 
ten  years  or  more. 

On  February  24th,  1890,  he  introduced  in  the  Senate  a 
bill  embracing  the  Sub-Treasury  plan,  stating  that  he  did 
so  by  request.  He  did  this  as  he  stated  afterwards,  at  the 
request  of  Col.  Polk  and  Dr.  Macune,  of  the  legislative 
committee  of  the  Alliance,  and  he  told  them  at  the  time 
that  they  must  not  infer  any  agreement  on  his  part  to  sup- 
port the  bill ;  that  it  was  such  a  radical  departure  from  the 
usual  course  of  legislation,  and  involved  matters  of  such 
grave  and  serious  import  that  he  should  reserve  the  ques- 
tion of  its  practicability  as  well  as  constitutionality.  Yet 
he  was  friendly  to  the  objects  and  purposes  of  the  bill  as 
outlined  above,  and  was  anxious  to  have  legislation  passed 
adequate  to  promote  such  objects.  Hence  he  procured  the 
reference  of  the  bill  to  the  committee  on  Agriculture,  in- 
stead of  that  on  Finance,  where  it  would  have  gone  under 
the  rules,  as  a  means  of  getting  as  friendly  consideration 
for  it  as  possible,  and  he  procured  for  Messrs.  Polk  and 
Macune  an  opportunity  to  go  before  that  committee  and 
discuss  its  merits  to  their  entire  satisfaction.  It  is  also 
evident  that  he  sought  to  have  the  bill  reported  from  the 
'  committee  either  favorably  or  otherwise  in  the  hope  that  its 
discussion  might  lead  to  the  evolution  of  a  bill  that  would 
accomplish  the  objects  sought,  to-wit:  financial  reform,  in 
a  way  that  would  be  free  from  constitutional  objections. 
The  following  letter  to  Mr.  Beddingfield,  secretary  of  the 
Alliance,  contains  Vance's  earliest    utterances  on  the  sub- 


282  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

ject  and  shows  the   candor  and   unreserve   with   which  he 

expressed  his   opinions  on  the   Sub-Treasury  and  kindred 

topics,  viz  : 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  i8th,  1890. 
E.  C.  Beddingfield,  Esq.,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Dear  Sir — Whenever  I  have  carefully  formed  an  opinion  upon  a 
public  matter  I  have  no  objection  to  making  it  known  to  every  one 
having  a  right  to  require  it.  In  answer,  therefore,  to  your  letter  of 
i6th  inst.,  asking  my  opinion  on  several  important  subjects,  I  have  to 
say  as  follows:  To  inquiry  one,  I  answer  that  I  am  not  in  favor  of 
the  abolition  of  national  banks  and  the  issue  of  legal  tender  notes  in  the 
place  of  their  notes,  in  the  present  state  of  our  financial  policy.  But 
I  do  favor  permitting  them  to  bank  upon  gold  and  silver  coin  instead 
of  bonds  and  I  do  favor  the  making  of  all  money  a  legal  tender  which 
is  issued  by  the  Government.  To  your  second  inquiry,  I  answer  that 
I  do  not  favor  the  passage  of  a  law  by  Congress  prohibiting  dealing  in 
futures,  in  agricultural  products,  &c.,  for  the  reason  that  Congress 
has  no  power  to  pass  such  a  law.  I  should  be  glad,  however,  to  see 
the  practice  regulated  or  suppressed  by  the  States.  In  answer  to  your 
third  inquiry,  I  have  to  say  that  I  favor  placing  silver,  in  every  respect, 
on  precisely  the  same  footing  as  gold,  and  shall  so  vote.  In  answer 
to  your  fourth  question,  I  have  to  say,  I  favor  the  prohibiting  of  alien 
ownership  of  the  public  lands  and  always  have  done  so,  and  also  the 
prevention  of  railroads  and  other  corporations  from  holding  more  real 
estate  than  is  actually  required  for  their  legitimate  purposes.  This  is 
a  matter  that  requires  both  State  and  Congressional  action.  In  an- 
swer to  your  sixth  question,  I  have  to  say  that  for  some  time  past  I 
have  advocated  here  the  issuance  by  the  government  of  fractional  pa- 
per currency  for  the  convenience  of  transmission  through  the  mails, 
etc.  In  answer  to  your  seventh  question,  I  have  to  say  that  I  have  not 
definitely  formed  any  opinion  of  the  propriety  of  the  government  tak- 
ing control  of  the  railroads  and  telegraph  lines.  M}'  inclination  is  de- 
cidedly against  it.  In  answer  to  your  eighth  question,  as  to  my  opin- 
ion of  what  is  called  the  sub-Treasury  or  warehouse  bill,  I  have  this 
to  say:  I  am  in  favor  not  of  this  particular  bill  (for  it  is  crude  and  im- 
perfect) but  of  the  principles  of  the  bill,  provided  it  be  not  established 
that  it  is  unconstitutional.  I  am  prepared  and  intend  to  go  as  far  in 
the  relief  of  the  farmers,  to  compensate  them  for  the  losses  suffered 
under  unequal  and  unjust  tariff  laws,  as  my  oath  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution will  permit  me.  Whether  it  be  constitutional  or  not  I  am  ' 
not  now  prepared  to  say.  It  is  a  great  departure  in  our  financial  polic}- 
and  will  require  careful  and  elaborate  examination.  If  it  were  once 
reported  from  the  Committee  it  would  receive  thorough  discussion 
and  the  country  could  see  for  itself.  My  hope  and  earnest  wish  is  that 
the  discussion  will  result  in  some  practical  scheme  for  the  relief  of  our 
farmers  in  this  direction. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  283 

I  need  not  have  you  go  over  all  the  arguments  in  favor  of  some- 
thing of  the  kind. 

1  write  in  haste,  being  on  the  eve  of  departure  to  Charlotte  to  attend 
the  IMecklenburg  Celebration  and  have  only  briefly,  but  I  hope  satis- 
factorily, answered  your  questions. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Z.   B.   VANCE. 

A  little  later  on,  viz:  in  June,  1890,  Senator  Vance, 
having  in  the  mean  time,  no  doubt,  more  maturely  con- 
\  sidered  the  sub-Treasury  plan,  wrote  the  following  letter 
to  the  president  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance  of  the  State  of 
North  Carolina,  expressing  his  views  in  regard  to  the 
Alliance  in  order  to  correct  erroneous  impressions  prevail- 
ing and  to  explicitly  state  his  views  and  opinions,  If  it  is 
not  a  candid,  explicit,  bold  and  manly  statement  of  his 
opinions  in  regard  to  the  sub-Treasury  and  other  matters 
of  public  concern,  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  the 
English  language  could  make  it  so.  And  to  those  who 
would  doubt  his  loyalty  to  the  Democratic  party,  attention 
is  specially  called  to  his  utterances  and  warnings  as  to  the 
necessity  of  firmly  adhering  to  that  organization : 

Senate  Chamber,  June  29th,  i8qo. 
Elias  Carr,  Esq.,  President  Farmers'  Alliance  of  North  Carolina, 
Old  Sparta,  N.  C. 

Dear  Sir— So  many  reports  of  my  position  on  what  is  known  as 
the  sub-Treasury  or  Farmers'  Warehouse  bill  have  been  circulated  in 
our  State,  and  I  have  received  so  many  letters  of  enquiry  on  the  sub- 
ject, that  I  have  deemed  it  my  duty  to  answer  them  all  in  this  way. 
I  write  to  you  as  the  honored  head  of  the  Farmers!  Alliance  of  North 
Carolina,  and  desire  in  this  manner  to  make  known  to  the  people  my 
honest  opinion  on  this  and  cognate  subjects.  I  do  this  all  the  more 
readily  because  I  am  conscious  that  I  have  never,  in  the  course  of  my 
political  life,  concealed  from  the  people  who  have  honored  me  any 
candid  conviction  in  regard  to  any  important  public  matter.  It  is  too 
late  for  me  now  to  begin  such  a  course. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  1890,  at  the  request  of  Col.  L.  L.  Polk, 
President  of  the  N.  F.  Alliance  and  Industrial  Union,  I  introduced  in 
the  Senate  bill  2,806,  popularly  known  as  the  sub-Treasury  bill,  and 
procured  its  reference  to  the  Committee  on  Agriculture  and  Forestry, 
where  it  was  supposed  that  it  would  receive  more  friendly  considera- 
tion   than   from    the    Committee    on    Finance,    to    which    it   would 


284  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

otherwise  have  gone  according  to  the  rules.  On  receiving  it,  I  told 
both  Col.  Polk  and  Dr.  Macune,  the  Chairman  of  the  Legislative  Com- 
mittee of  the  Alliance,  that  I  vpas  not  prepared  to  promise  them  to 
support  the  bill  ;  that  it  was  a  great  and  radical  departure  from  the 
accustomed  policy  of  the  legislation,  and  that  there  were  questions 
both  of  practicability  and  constitutionality  which  I  wished  to  reserve. 
I  told  them  also  that  I  hoped  for  good  results  from  its  introduction  ; 
and  believed  that  its  discussion  would  attract  the  attention  of  the 
country  to  the  condition  and  wants  of  the  agricultural  classes,  and  if 
this  bill  was  not  deemed  the  proper  one,  that  some  other  would  be 
formulated  in  the  direction  of  the  needed  relief. 

I  procured  an  early  consideration  of  the  bill  by  the  committee, 
and  a  very  able  and  most  interesting  discussion  by  Messrs.  Polk  and 
Macune  was  had.  But  so  far  without  result.  The  committee  has  not 
yet  made  a  report,  though  I  am  assured  that  a  majoritj^  of  its  mem- 
bers are  anxiously  seeking  to  devise  a  method  of  relief  which  shall 
not  be  open  to  the  objections  of  that  bill. 

My  own  position  remains  the  same.  I  can  not  support  this  bill  in 
its  present  shape.  But  I  am  not  opposed  to  the  principle  and  pur- 
poses of  the  measure.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  those  which  I  have 
for  ten  years  advocated,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  which  I  have 
in  every  county  iu  North  Carolina  again  and  again  urged  the  organiz- 
ation of  farmers,  pointing  out  to  them  how  that  all  other  classes  of 
society  were  organized  for  the  promotion  of  their  separate  interests. 
It  is  a  shameful  truth,  that  in  the  enormous  growth  of  the  wealth  of 
our  country  in  the  last  twenty  years,  the  farmers  have  not  propor- 
tionately participated.  All  candid  men  admit  that  they  have  not  had 
their  full  share  of  the  aggregate  prosperity  of  our  country.  The  rea- 
son for  this  is  as  plain  to  be  seen  as  any  cause  for  any  effect.  For  a 
quarter  of  a  century  the  legislation  of  our  country  has  been  notori- 
ously in  the  interest  of  certain  combinations  of  capital.  The  manu- 
facturers have  been  protected  by  enormous  duties  upon  foreign  im- 
ports, many  of  which  are  absolutely  prohibitory.  The  currency  has 
been  systematically  contracted  by  the  withdrawal  of  circulation,  and 
the  demonetization  of  silver  in  the  interests  of  bankers,  brokers, 
bondholders,  and  all  the  creditor  class.  In  this  wa}^  the  inevitable  re- 
sults have  been  produced.  The  enormous  wealth  of  our  country  has 
become  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  a  few.  Overgrown  fortunes 
have  been  accumulated  by  the  favored  ones,  while  mortgages  have 
been  the  chief  acquisition  of  the  many.  The  farmer  being  compelled 
to  use  his  surplus  wheat,  beef,  and  cotton  in  free  trade  markets  of  the 
world,  was  not  allowed  also  to  buy  his  supplies  in  the  same  place,  but 
was  compelled  to  bring  his  money  home  from  Europe,  and  by  his  iron, 
his  clothing,  and  all  his  farm  supplies  from  the  domestic  manufactur- 
ers at  prices  enhanced  not  only  by  these  enormous  tariff  duties,  but 
likewise  by  the  severe  contraction  of  the  currency.      What  else  could 


LIFE  OF   VANCE.  285 

possibly  have  followed  but  indebtedness  and  bankruptcy  for  that 
class  who  had  thus  to  bear  the  ultimate  burdens  of  the  law  of  econ- 
omy, and  by  which  alone  the  undue  riches  of  one  class  were  secured. 
All  efforts  to  secure  the  repeal  of  this  outrageous  taxation  and  to 
restore  the  full  use  of  silver  as  money  having  so  far  proved  unavail- 
ing, reasonable  men  are  not  surprised  that  the  oppressed  class  of  our 
people  have  at  last  organized  and  determined  to  do  something.  For 
one,  I  sympathize  most  cordially  and  sincerely  with  this  determina- 
tion. Inasmuch  as  it  is  impossible  to  compensate  the  farmer  for  the 
robbing  of  him  under  this  tariff  taxation  by  imposing  tariff  duties  for 
his  benefit,  also  for  the  reason  that  similar  products  to  his  are  not 
imported  into  this  country,  the  question  arises,  how  shall  he  be  com- 
pensated ?  If  some  way  be  not  devised,  and  we  continue  to  impose 
these  tariff  taxes  on  him,  we  simply  admit  that  he  is  to  be  oppressed 
forever,  or  until  he  is  sent  to  the  poor  house,  and  that  whilst  we  have 
power  under  the  constitution  to  destroy  by  taxation  one  class  of  citi- 
zens, we  have  neither  the  power  nor  the  disposition  to  compensate 
that  destroj-ed  class,  nor  ix>  equalize  the  burdens  of  life  among  the 
people.  I  never  will  agree  to  this,  and  I  stand  ready  to  vote  for  any 
measure  for  the  relief  of  the  agricultural  classes  of  the  community 
that  will  serve  the  purpose,  asking  only  that  it  be  within  the  power 
conferred  upon  Congress  by  the  Constitution.  We  live,  happily  for 
us,  in  a  government  of  limited  powers,  but  because,  as  I  believe,  the 
present  tariff  duties  are  utterly  unconstitutional,  and  but  "robbery 
under  the  forms  of  law."  I  cannot  gain  my  consent  to  vote  for  this 
sub-Treasury  bill  which  provides  for  the  loaning  of  money  to  the  peo- 
ple by  the  government,  and  which,  in  my  opinion,  is  without  consti- 
tutional authority.  I  believe,  however,  under  the  clause  of  the  con- 
stitution which  gives  Congress  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  with 
foreign  countries  and  among  the  States,  that  the  bonded  warehouses 
now  in  use  for  the  reception  of  foreign  importations  might  also  be 
used  at  every  port  of  entry  in  the  United  States,  and  others  estab- 
lished elsewhere  as  well,  for  the  reception  of  domestic  articles,  in- 
tended for  export  or  for  sale  in  other  States,  and  the  government 
could  be  made  to  receive  these  articles  and  issue  receipts  therefor 
upon  which  the  holders  could  readily  borrow  money.  This,  I  believe, 
would  answer  every  purpose  contemplated  by  the  sub-Treasury  plan, 
except  that  of  borrowing  money  at  a  specified  cheap  rate.  However 
this  may  be,  I  know,  my  dear  sir,  that  neither  you  nor  the  good  and 
true  men  whom  you  represent  would  ask  me  to  infringe  in  any  way 
upon  the  organic  law  of  our  country,  in  the  faithful  observance  of 
which,  alone  consists  the  safety  of  our  people. 

Permit  me  to  say  that  there  is  at  this  time  a  great  responsibility 
resting  upon  you.  This  is  an  uprising  of  the  agricultural  class  of  our 
people,  the  most  powerful  class  of  our  society,  which  amounts  to  little 
short  of  a  revolution.     This  revolution  is  directed  toward  a  redress  of 


286  I,IFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  evils  arising  from  unjust  legislation.  You  are  the  chosen  head 
and  representative  of  that  class  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  one  of 
its  most  honored  and  respected  citizens.  I  feel,  sir,  that  with  the 
freedom  of  a  friend  and  fellow  worker  of  the  same  political  faith,  I 
may  say  to  you  that  you  may  do  much  to  prevent  this  popular  cry  for 
redress  from  becoming  a  clamor  for  revenge.  Guided  within  the 
proper  channels,  and  by  wise  counsel,  I  believe  it  is  the  movement  for 
which  all  patriotic  men  in  our  country  have  waited  and  wished  so 
long,  and  that  it  will  result  in  just  legislation  and  more  equally  dif- 
fused prosperity.  But  if  recklessly,  unwisely  or  selfishly  directed,  it 
may  result  in  incalculable  injury  to  our  country  and  especially  our 
Southern  portion  of  it. 

I  notice  with  pain  that  much  of -the  ill  feeling  of  the  farmers  is 
directed  not  against  the  authors  and  upholders  of  this  nefarious  legis- 
lation, but  against  their  nearest  neighbors  and  friends,  those  whose 
interests  are  as  intimately  connected  with  their  own  as  is  that  of  mem- 
bers of  the  same  household.  I  observe  that  bitter  feeling  is  springing 
up  between  town  and  country— between  the  farmer  who  brings  his 
produce  to  town  and  the  merchant  who  buys  it  and  in  return  sells  him 
daily  supplies — that  often  the  farmer  is  taught  to  believe  that  the  law- 
yer, the  doctor,  or  other  professional  man  is  hostile  to  him  or  is  in 
some  way  responsible  for  the  evil  which  he  suffers.  I  need  not  say  to 
you  that  this  is  all  wrong,  unwise,  and  hurtful  in  a  degree  to  all  con- 
cerned. It  saps  the  strength  of  our  people  and  weakens  their  power 
to  secure  redress.  We  need  everybody's  help,  because  our  oppressors 
are  a  strong  party  entrenched  in  the  strongholds  of  the  Government. 
Naturally  the  redress  of  the  wrongs  occasioned  by  unjust  legislation 
is  the  repeal  of  that  legislation.  The  great  Democratic  party  of 
America,  now  in  a  large  numerical  majority,  but  deprived  of  the  con- 
trol of  the  Government  by  the  most  unscrupulous  methods,  openly 
and  almost  with  unanimity,  favors  the  repeal  of  the  legislation  of 
which  you  complain.  A  little  strengthening  of  its  hands,  and  but  a 
little,  will  enable  it  to  triumph.  Its  triumph  will  be  yours.  A  little 
sapping  of  its  strength,  a  little  division  of  its  ranks,  will  be  its  defeat. 
Again,  its  defeat  will  likewise  be  j^ours.  The  danger  is  that  oppressed 
freemen  will  become  impatient,  and  impatient  men  are  often  unwise. 
Your  great  organization  is  but  little  more  than  two  years  old — it  is  not 
yet  grown.  It  cannot  look  for  great  harvest  of  results  before  the  sow- 
ing and  maturing  of  the  crop.  Already  wonderful  things  have  been 
achieved.  Venerable  legislators,  life-long  servants  of  corporations 
and  Wall  street  policy  have  already  come  to  know  that  there  is  a  large 
class  of  the  American  people  called  farmers  and  who  have  rights  and 
privileges  like  others.  No  greater  shock  for  years  past  has  been  given 
to  the  sleek  and  comfortable  recipients  of  class  legislation  than  the 
recent  passage  through  the  Senate  of  the  bill  to  restore  the  unlimited 
coinage  and  legal  tender  character  of  silver.     This  was  undoubtedly 


LIFK   OF  VANCK.  287 

due  to  the  Farmers'  Alliance.  For  the  past  six  months  there  has  been 
more  discussion  upon  the  condition  of  the  farmers  and  matters  per- 
taining to  their  interests  than  has  taken  place  within  ten  years 
previous.  The  more  of  this  talk  the  better  for  the  farmers.  Their 
wrongs  are  so  palpable  that  the  justice  of  redressing  them  will  become 
more  and  more  irresistible  as  the  light  is  turned  on.  The  policy  of 
the  farmers,  being  now  right,  is  to  keep  within  the  right.  Demand 
nothing  that  is  illegal,  ask  nothing  that  is  unreasonable.  Especially, 
it  seems  to  me,  they  should  be  careful  not  to  injure  their  friends. 

They  should  hold  their  forces  in  hand  ready  to  aid  those  who  fa- 
vor them  and  to  strike  those  only   who  are   hostile  to  their  purposes 
and  principles.     To  attempt  to  make  a  political  party  of  the  Farmers' 
Alliance,  for  the  purpose  of  supplanting   either  of   the   great   parties 
who  divide  the  American  people  would  be  a   great  mistake.     In  the 
South  it  could  only  destroy  the  Democratic  party  and  leave  in  undis- 
puted control  that  other  party  which  is   the   author   and   upholder  of 
the  evils  by  which  we  are  afflicted.     By  your  own   rules   you  exclude 
from  membership  a  majority  of  the  community   and   for   that  reason 
alone  you  should  not  undertake  to  become   a   political   party.     I   see 
many  indications  of  that  tendency  which  give  me  much  concern.     In 
the  neighboring  State  of  South    Carolina   there   is   a   contest   raging 
which,  as  it  looks  to  me,  can  only  have  the  result  of  putting  the  State 
back  under  African  rule.     This,  too,  among  men  who  profess  to  agree 
upon  all  matters  of  principle.     Let  us  hope   that   we  may  avoid  such 
dangerous  and  unseemly  contests  in  our  State.     I  trust  much  to  you, 
my  dear  sir,  and  to   the   conservatism,    good   sense,    moderation   and 
patriotism  of  the  farmers  of  North  Carolina,    to  avoid   the   taking  of 
any  position  or  the  doing  of  anything  that  would   prevent  the  Demo- 
crats who  are  in  the  Alliance  and  the  Democrats  who  are  not  in  the 
Alliance  from  working  together  for  principles  which  are  common  and 
for  interests  which  are  general,  with  that  harmony  which  so  triumph- 
antly brought  us  out  of  the  house  of  bondage  in  the  period  from  1870 
to  1876  and  which  has  in  so  great  a   measure   restored  our   State  to  a 
reasonable  degree  of  prosperity   and   credit.     Let   us  not  imitate  the 
conduct  of  the  Jews  when  their  sacred  city  was  besieged  by  the  Roman 
armies,  who  fought  their  enemies  with  incredible  valor  all  day  and 
fought  each  other  with  incredible  fury  all  night.     Let  us,  on  the  con- 
trary, stand   together  and  fight  our  common  enemies  day  and  night. 
Let  us  strive  for  a  reduction  of  taxation  on  the  necessaries  of  life— for 
a   reduction  of  the  expenditures  of  the  government— for  an  increase  of 
the  currency  and  the  price  of  farm  products   by  the   free   coinage  of 
silver  and  the  restoration  of  its  full  legal  tender  character— for  the 
repeal  of  the  tax  upon  State  banks— for  the  regulation  of  transporta- 
tion  rates   by  railroad  commissions,    and  last   but   not  least,  let  us 
earnestly  contend  against  that  spirit  of  centralization  which  is  con- 
stantly threatening  to  absorb  the  local  self-government  of  the  people 
of  the  States.  Very  truly  yours,  Z.  B.  VANCE. 


288  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

It  has  also  been  charged  that  Vance  surrendered  his 
manhood  and  independence  by  promising  the  Alliance  he 
would  obey  instructions  or  resign,  and  he  was  accused  of 
bad  faith  in  that  having  given  the  promise  and  been  in- 
structed, he  did  not  either  obey  or  resign. 

There  never  was  the  slightest  foundation  for  either 
charge.  In  the  first  place  he  did  not  promise  to  obey  in- 
structions from  the  Alliance.  His  language  was,  "I  recog- 
nize the  old  Democratic  doctrine  of  the  right  of  the  people 
to  instruct  *  *  =)<  j  j^old  that  the  will  of  the  people 
clearly  and   unequivocally  expressed  must  be  obeyed,"  etc. 

There  is  ample  authority  and  precedent  in  our  own  State 
for  the  position  Vance  took  with  reference  to  the  right  of 
the  people,  through  their  Legislature,  to  instruct,  and  the 
duty  of  the  Senator  to  resign  if  he  can  not  conscienciously 
obey.  Indeed  it  would  seem  that  there  was  no  other  course 
open  to  him.  The  precedents  were  comparatively  recent 
and  irresistible.  Robert  Strange  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
United  States  Senate  in  1840  because  the  Legislature  gave 
him  instructions  with  reference  to  the  expunging  resolution, 
the  Public  lands  and  the  sub-Treasury,  which  his  sense  of 
public  duty  would  not  permit  him  to  obey,  and  William  H. 
Haywood,  a  few  years  later,  resigned  his  seat  in  that  body 
because  his  conception  of  his  public  duty  would  not  allow 
him  to  carry  out  the  instructions  of  the  State  Legislature 
as  to  the  tariff,  the  compromise  of  1833,  and  the  refunding 
of  the  fine  imposed  on  Andrew  Jackson.  So  Vance  was 
not  truckling  to  the  Alliance  when  he  agreed  to  obey  the 
instructions  of  the  people^  but  was  only  following  in  the 
beaten  path  along  which  his  illustrous  predecessors  had 
gone. 

Shortly  after  the  State  election  of  1890,  when  it  was 
known  that  a  large  majority  of  the  members  elect  to  the 
Legislature  which  was  to  choose  Vance's  successor,  were 
members  of   the    Alliance,  the    following   correspondence 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  289 

took  place  between  Elias  Carr,  President  of  the  State  Alli- 
ance, and  Senator  Vance  : 

November  20,  1890. 
Hon.  Z.  B.  Vance,  Black  Mountain,  N.  C. 

Dear  Sir:  After  carefully  considering  the  political  situation  in 
our  State,  I  deem  it  wise  to  write  you  and  ask  the  following  ques- 
tion: If  the  Legislature  instructs  you  to  advocate  and  vote  for  the 
sub-Treasury  plan  of  financial  reform  will  you  carry  out  said  instruc- 
tions ?  I  hope  that  you  will  understand.  I  do  not  reflect  in  the 
slightest  on  your  devotion  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  but  there 
are  precedents  where  United  Senators  have  carried  out  instructions 
and  also  precedents  where  they  have  disregarded  them.  I  trust  that 
you  will  give  me  an  answer  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

Very  respectfully, 

ELIAS  CARR, 
President  N.  C.  State  Alliance. 

(answer.) 
U.  S.  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C,  Dec.  6,  1890. 
Elias  Carr,  President  N.  C.  Fanners'  Alliance,  Old  Sparta,  N.  C. 
Dear  Sir  :  In  answer  to  your  official  communication  of  the  20th 
ult.,  which  did  not  reach  me  until  the  ist  inst.,  I  have  to  say  that  I 
recognize  the  old  Democratic  doctrine  of  the  right  of  the  people  to 
instruct  their  representatives  to  the  fullest  extent  to  which  it  has 
ever  been  carried  in  North  Carolina.  I  hold  that  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple clearly  and  unequivocally  expressed  must  be  obeyed  unless  com- 
pliance would  involve  the  representative  in  a  moral  wrong,  in  which 
case  it  would  be  his  duty  to  resign  and  give  place  to  a  representative 
who  w-ould  obey.  Good  faith  in  the  observance  of  instructions  and 
public  pledges  is  absolutely  essential  to  a  government  based  on  the 
popular  will.  Very  respectfully  yours, 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 

Now  let  us  see  about  the  instructions.  The  Leo^islature 
assembled  in  due  time  and  it  was  ascertained,  as  before 
stated,  that  a  large  majority  of  its  members  were  members 
of  the  Alliance,  though  claiming  at  the  same  time  to  be 
Democrats.  Only  a  few  days  before  the  election  of  Senator 
the  Democratic  Alliance  party  met  in  caucus  to  pass  upon 
the  matter  of  the  Senatorship.  After  some  considerable 
discussion  they  pa.ssed  the  following  resolution  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  two  branches  of  the  Legislature: 

"Resolved,  By  the  House  of  Representatives  the  Senate 

20 


290  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

concurring,  that  our  Senators  in  the  51st  and  52d  Congresses 
of  the  United  States  be  instructed,  and  our  Representa- 
tives requested  to  vote  for  and  use  all  honorable  means 
to  secure  the  financial  reforms  as  demanded  in  the  platform 
adopted  by  the  Ocala  meeting  of  the  National  Farmers- 
Alliance,  held  in  December,  1890;  and  that  a  copy  of  this 
resolution  be  sent  to  our  Senators  and  Representatives." 

This  resolution  was  shown  to  Vance,  who  was  in  Raleigh 
at  the  time,  and  he  positively  and  emphatically  declined  to 
accept  an  election  under  such  instructions.  He  reiterated 
his  views  and  opinions  as  formerly  expressed,  but  declined 
most  firmly  to  surrender  or  modify  them  for  the  sake 
of  a  re-election  to  the  Senate. 

This  was  a  bombshell  in  the  camp.  There  was  a  great 
deal  of  consulting  among  the  members  and  much  going  to 
and  from  Vance's  room.  He  was  as  usual  pleasant  and 
cordial  to  his  many  friends,  but  resolute  and  inflexible  in 
his  position.  His  views  were  well  known,  and  the  party 
saw  that  the  alternative  was  either  to  modify  its  resolution 
so  as  to  conform  to  his  judgment,  or  else  throw  him  over- 
board and  take  another  man.  There  was  a  great  deal  of 
discussion  and  some  angry  feeling.  Shortly  before  the 
election  was  gone  into  the  caucus  resolution  was  intro- 
duced in  the  House,  but  was  modified  by  amendment  so  as 
to  conform  to  Vance's  well  known  views,  and  was  then 
passed,  to-wit: 

"That  our  Senators  in  the  51st  and  52d  Congresses  be 
instructed  and  our  Representative  requested  to  vote  for  and 
use  all  honorable  means  to  secure ///<?^-'^VYY.y  of  the  financial 
reform  as  contemplated  in  the  platform  adopted  at  the 
Ocala  meeting,"  etc. 

The  resolution  thus  modified  was  satisfactory  to  the  Sen- 
ator. He  was  not  willing  to  be  tied  down  to  tJie  financial 
reform  demanded  in  the  Ocala  platform,  which  was,  of 
course,  the  sub-treasury  scheme,  but  the  objects  sought  or 
contemplated,  to-wit :  an  increase  in  the  volume  of  the  cur- 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  29 1 

rency  by  the  free  coinage  of  silver  and  other  constitutional 
and  practicable  methods,  was  what  he  had  always  con- 
tended for. 

These  facts  are  incontestibly  established  by  the  journals 
of  the  Legislature  of  1891,  and  by  contemporaneous  news- 
papers as  well  as  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  men 
who  actively  participated  in  the  events.  The  following 
very  clear  and  explicit  statements  from  Mr.  Samuel  L. 
Patterson,  State  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  and  of  Ex-Gov. 
Thos.  J.  Jarvis,  place  the  matter  beyond  the  possibility  of 
doubt  or  discussion : 

Rai^eiGH,  N.  C,  March  19th,  1897. 
Hon.  Clement  Dozvd,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Dear  Sir — In  obedience  to  your  request,  made  some  days  ago  in 
my  office,  I  give  3'ou  my  recollections  of  incidents  and  conversations 
connected  with  the  re-election  of  Governor  Vance  to  the  Senate  by 
the  Legislature  of  1891. 

I  know  an  idea  prevails  among  some  of  his  friends  that  Governor 
Vance  humbled  himself,  or  at  least  lowered  his  dignity,  in  accepting 
the  election,  coupled  as  it  was  with  a  certain  resolution  of  instruction, 
and  upon  which  his  election  was  considered  to  depend.  I  do  not  think 
the  situation  as  it  existed  has  ever  been  fully  understood,  and  in  order 
to  disabuse  the  public  mind  of  an  impression  derogatory  of  Governor 
Vance's  action,  and  to  give  also  the  view  taken  by  Governor  Vance 
himself,  it  seems  necessary  to  go  into  certain  details,  of  which  I  had 
personal  knowledge. 

Without  considering  the  campaign  previous,  or  the  influence  ex- 
erted therein  by  the  new  factor  in  politics,  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  or 
any  previous  correspondence  of  Governor  Vance's  with  reference  to 
the  Alliance  demand,  or  principles,  I  will  begin  with  the  opening  of 
the  Legislature,  in  which  appeared  a  large  majority  of  Alliance  mem- 
bers. 

At  the  outset,  even  before  the  Legislature  was  organized,  a  deter- 
mined purpose  was  manifested  on  the  part  of  a  majority  of  these  to 
elect  no  one,  not  even  Governor  Vance,  who  was  not  in  sympathy  with 
the  Alliance  idea  of  "financial  reform,"  and  they  were  not  willing  to 
take  this  for  granted,  unsupported  by  some  sort  of  instructions.  I 
may  say  here  that  the  Democratic  members,  who  were  not  members 
of  the  Alliance,  with  mighty  few  exceptions,  were  in  harmony  with 
the  Alliance  members  in  these  views.  As  is  usual  at  such  times,  every 
shade  of  opinion  was  represented,  from  the  mildly  conservative  to  the 
extremel}^  radical.  Under  these  circumstances  great  and  grave  uncer- 
tainty existed  as  to  the  outcome.      Several  caucuses  of  the  Alliance 


292  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

members  were  held.  My  recollection  is  that  at  one  of  these,  probably 
on  Thursday  night  after  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  on  Wednesday, 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  resolutions  of  instruction,  to  be 
submitted  to  the  caucus  on  the  night  following,  and  that  at  the  caucus 
Friday  night,  the  resolution  submitted  was  considered  too  stringent. 
I  am  certain  that  the  first,  and  probably  the  second  resolution  pre- 
sented to  the  caucus,  was  rejected,  and  it  was  amended  or  a  substitute 
adopted. 

Securing  a  copy  I  took  it  to  Governor  Vance's  room  at  the  Yar- 
borough,  where  we  were  both  stopping.  He  had  retired,  but  arose 
and  read  it.  His  disappointment  was  evident,  but  he  only  remarked, 
"  he  didn't  know  about  that,  but  would  think  over  it  and  give  me  an 
answer  in  the  morning."  The  next  day,  befor  starting  to  the  Capitol, 
I  went  again  to  see  him.  His  answer  was  that  he  could  not  accapt  an 
election  under  the  terms  imposed  in  the  resolutio7i.  This  was  spoken 
very  earnestly.  I  was  very  much  disappointed,  for  I  had  come  to  the 
Legislature  instructed  to  support  Governor  Vance,  unhampered  by  any 
conditions,  and  I  feared  the  passage  of  the  resolution,  notwithstanding 
his  opposition.  After  reaching  the  Capitol,  I  had  a  hasty  conference 
with  some  of  the  members,  a  few  of  whom  agreed  with  me  to  make  an 
effort  to  delay  action,  by  referring  the  resolution  to  a  committee.  Such 
a  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Watson,  of  Robeson,  who  spoke  strongly  in 
its  favor,  as  did  perhaps  one  or  two  others.  On  the  other  hand,  post- 
ponement was  vigorously  opposed — it  is  unnecessary  to  state  here  by 
whom,  and  for  what  apparent  purpose.  The  motion  to  defer  was  de- 
feated by  a  large  majority,  and  the  vote  on  the  main  question  was 
upon  us.  It  was  a  critical  moment.  Action  was  about  to  be  taken, 
resulting  in  complications,  the  end  of  which  no  man  could  foresee. 
Just  at  the  moment  when  the  speaker  was  ready  to  put  the  question,  I 
had  a  hasty  conference  with  Mr.  Holeman,  the  able  and  patriotic  rep- 
resentative from  Iredell,  who  had  been  delegated  by  the  caucus  to 
present  the  resolution  to  the  House.  He  readily  agreed  to  accept  the 
amendment  I  proposed.  Going  forward  to  the  clerk's  desk  to  write  it, 
I  was  surrounded  by  members  expostulating  with  and  urging  me  not 
to  offer  it,  to  which  my  reply  was,  Mr.  Holeman  had  already  ac- 
cepted it. 

I  have  not  a  copy  of  the  resolution  as  offered,  but  it  was  in  effect 
about  as  follows  : 

"  That  our  Senators  *  *  *  are  hereby  instructed  *  *  to  vote 
for,  and  use  all  honorable  means  to  secure  the  financial  reform  de- 
manded in  the  platform  adopted  by  the  Ocala  meeting  of  the  National 
I'armers'  Alliance  held  in  December,  1890. 

"  Amendment  Proposed  :  Between  the  words  '  secure  '  and  '  the  ' 
insert  the  words  '  the  objects  of'  and  strike  out  the  word  'demanded,' 
and  insert  the  words  '  as  contemplated,'  making  the  resolution  read, 
'That  our  Senators     *     *     *     are  hereby  instructed     *     *      to^vote 


LIFE   OF  VANCK.  293 

for  and  use  all  honorable  means  to  secure  the  objects  of  the  financial 
reform,  as  contemplated  in  the  platform  adopted  by  the  Ocala  meeting 
of  the  National  Farmers'  Alliance  held  in  December,  1890.'  " 

As  so  amended,  the  resolution  was  put  to  the  house  and  supported 
by  all  the  members  present,  except  the  thirteen  Republicans.  Mr. 
Pritchard,  their  young  leader,  always  open  and  manl}',  taking  occa- 
sion in  opposing  the  resolution,  to  defend  the  National  Banking  sys- 
tem. (Who,  then,  would  have  imagined  that  he  would  become  the 
great  Vance's  immediate  successor  ?) 

In  the  afternoon  a  rumor  reached  me  that  Governor  Vance  was  bit- 
terly disappointed  at  the  action  of  the  House,  and  would  decline  the 
election.  I  had  felt  that  the  amendment  gave  such  elasticity  to  the 
resolution,  as  to  relieve  its  objectionable  feature,  and  hence  was  so 
chagrined  at  the  supposed  failure,  I  absented  myself  during  the  after- 
noon, and  it  was  only  on  Charley  Vance's  invitation  at  night  that  I 
went  to  the  room. 

The  first  sight  of  the  face  so  beloved  by  North  Carolinians  was  suf- 
ficient to  convince  me  of  the  error.  Lit  up  with  an  expression  very 
different  from  the  evident  depression  of  the  morning,  in  his  inimit- 
able manner  he  rose  and  came  forward,  greeting  me  with  the  remark, 
"I  want  to  give  my  hand  to  the  man  who  offered  that  amendment; 
that  was  the  best  day's  work  ever  j-ou  did;  at  least  the  best  for  me." 
His  whole  appearance  had  changed,  and  his  usual  buoyant  spirits  had 
returned.  Continuing  to  discuss  the  amendment,  and  turning  to  the 
lamented  Buck  Jones,  who  was  present,  he  remarked  in  that  familiar 
drawling  tone  of  voice,  "You  know  what  a  long  headed  old  coon  Jar- 
vis  is?  When  I  showed  him  the  resolution  as  passed,  he  said  'is  that 
all?'  I  replied,  'this  is  the  copy  sent  me  by  Bob  Furman.'  'Why,' 
he  says,  'that's  just  what  you've  been  working  for  all  the  time.'  'Yes,' 
said  I,  'there's  nothing  in  this  resolution  that  I  cannot  cheerful!}'  en- 
dorse.' " 

Most  of  this  is  the  exact  language  used,  and  it  is  certainly  very 
conclusive  that  in  his  opinion,  there  was  a  world  of  difference  be- 
tween instructions  to  vote  absolutely  for  a  certain  measure  without 
qualifications,  and  instructions  to  vote  for  certain  objects  contem- 
plated in  the  measure,  leaving  his  own  judgment  to  decide  how  best 
to  work  these  out. 

The  caucus  resolution  had  been  introduced  in  the  Senate  but 
action  was  deferred  until  the  following  Monday.  When  the  amended 
House  resolution  was  presented  on  Monday,  the  original  was  voted 
down,  and  the  House  resolution  passed,  unanimously  I  believe,  Mr. 
Turner,  of  Iredell,  taking  occasion  to  define  clearlj'  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two.  Several  other  Senators  who,  with  Mr.  Turner,  would 
probably  have  opposed  the  original  resolution,  explained  their  posi- 
tion and  voted  for  it  as  amended. 

After  the  first  disappointment  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  Alliance 


294  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

members  that  the  caucus  decree  had  not  been  fulfilled  to  the  letter,  I 
never  heard  criticism  made,  nor  any  fault  found  with  the  action 
taken.  Certainly  no  one,  Allianceman,  Populist,  Republican  or  Dem- 
ocrat will  be  found  to  say  that  Governor  Vance  was  ever  faithless 
to  the  instructions  as  he  construed  them,  or  that  in  this  he  was  act- 
ing otherwise  than  impelled  by  his  own  sincere  convictions. 

I  have  spun  out  this  narrative  beyond  intended  limits,  but  the 
minor  details  may  aid  you  in  a  fuller  realization  of  the  diflBculties  of 
the  situation.  I  am  very  confident  that  Governor  Vance  and  those  in 
Raleigh  cognizant  of  these  facts  approved  of  the  action  taken  and 
felt  that  a  fortunate  solution  had  been  reached  of  threatening  and  se- 
rious complications. 

I  believe  that  Governor  Vance's  pride  was  wounded  at  the 
thought  that  his  beloved  people  could  consider  it  necessary  to  give 
"instructions"  to  him,  who  had  always  been  so  true  to  their  welfare, 
but  the  conditions  of  the  instructions  were  never  galling  to  his  lib- 
erty of  action. 

Continuous  office  work  and  an  absence  of  several  days  have  pre- 
vented an  earlier  compliance  with  your  request.  You  can  use  what 
I  have  written  in  whatever  way  will  best  serve  your  purpose,  and 
with  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  work,  1  am. 

Very  truly  yours, 

S.  L.  PATTERSON. 

GrEENvii^IvE,  N.  C,  April  i,  1897. 
Hon.  C.  Doii'd,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Dear  Sir: — I  have  received  the  copy  of  a  letter  of  the  Hon.  S.  L<. 
Patterson,  sent  me  by  you,  in  reference  to  the  election  of  Hon.  Z.  B. 
Vance  to  the  Senate  in  1891;  and  I  have  carefully  read  and  reread  the 
same,  and  I  now,  at  your  request,  give  my  recollections  and  impressions 
about  the  matters  therein  referred  to.  I  cannot  speak  of  any  of  the 
interviews  or  conversation  or  meetings  referred  to  by  Mr.  Patterson, 
because  I  was  not  present  at  any  of  them;  but  I  had  some  knowledge 
of  the  subject  matter  of  which  they  treated,  and  of  that  I  will  speak. 

A  few  days  before  the  election  for  Senator  came  off  in  January, 
1891,  I  received  a  telegram  from  Senator  Vance  asking  me  to  come  to 
Raleigh  at  once.  I  took  the  first  train  and  arrived  there  late  in  the 
afternoon,  a  day  or  so  before  the  first  ballot  was  to  be  taken.  I  went 
at  once  to  the  vSenator's  room  at  the  Yarboro  House  and  remained  with 
him  some  time.  He  talked  freely  with  me  about  the  whole  situation. 
He  explained  to  me  that  at  the  time  he  telegraphed  for  me  the  situa- 
tion of  affairs  was  embarrassing  ;  that  some  members  of  the  Legislature, 
he  thought,  were  disposed  to  make  demands  of  him  to  which  he  could 
not  and  would  not  yield.  He  stated  their  attitude  as  he  understood 
it,  but  he  said  the  situation  had  materially  changed  since  he  tele- 
graphed for  me.     After  having  fully  explained  the  situation  at  the 


LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


295 


time  he  telegraphed,  he  handed  me  a  copy  of  what  purported  to  be  a 
resolution  passed,  and  said  that  was  what  they  now  demanded  of  him. 
After  reading  it,  I  think  I  said,  "  is  that  all  ?"'  I  am  sure  I  used  some 
such  expression.  I  know  I  said  to  him  the  spirit  of  the  resolution  was 
in  harmony  with  his  own  views,  and  that  he  ought  not  to  hesitate  about 
agreeing  to  it.  He  said  he  was  confident  he  could  be  elected  Senator 
without  submitting  to  any  semblance  of  a  condition  or  instruction  if 
he  chose  to  make  the  fight,  but  that  he  did  not  wish  to  do  anything  to 
create  a  division  in  his  party.  While  he  was  positive  and  outspoken 
in  his  determination  not  to  submit  to  any  humiliating  conditions,  even 
for  the  sake  of  the  high  office,  yet  so  anxious  was  he  to  preserve  har- 
mony within  the  Democracy  of  the  State  that  he  was  willing  to  make 
some  concessions  to  the  honest  convictions  of  those  who  felt  the 
necessity  for  some  reform  or  change  in  our  financial  system. 

There  was  no  power  on  earth  that  could  have  induced  Vance  to 
have  accepted  an  office  under  conditions  which  he  felt  could  be  justly 
held  to  forfeit  the  affection  and  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by 
the  people  of  his  State.  Those  who  think  that  he  did  do  or  that  he 
yV/Zthat  he  had  done  so  simply  misunderstood  the  man.  He  talked  with 
me  freely  not  only  at  the  time  of  his  election,  but  before  and  after- 
wards about  the  great  questions  that  were  then  beginning  to  absorb 
all  other  questions  and  to  divide  men  who  had  hitherto  worked  in 
harmony  with  each  other. 

Vance  was  by  nature,  education,  training  and  associations  hon- 
estly the  friend  of  the  people,  and  the  ready,  earnest  champion  of 
their  cause.  While  he  had  a  decent  regard  for  the  influence  of  posi- 
tion and  wealth,  and  while  he  taught  his  fellowmen  to  have  proper 
respect  for  these  things  and  to  accord  each  their  full  measure  of  pro- 
tection, he  had  nothing  of  obsequiousness  for  them  in  his  nature  or 
habits.  He  was  the  implacable  foe  of  all  manner  of  trusts  and  com- 
binations which  oppressed  the  people,  and  he  could  not  be  allured  by 
their  blandishments  nor  frightened  by  their  threats,  into  silence.  He 
honestly  believed  in  that  system  of  laws  and  finance  which  gave  the 
people  the  greatest  freedom  in  their  individual  efforts,  enterprise  and 
labors,  consistent  with  the  public  good. 

It  was  after  his  election  that  some  of  his  old  friends  began  to 
grow  lukewarm  toward  him.  There  is  no  question  but  he  felt  the  loss 
of  these  friends,  nor  is  there  any  question  but  what  the  last  years  of 
his  life  had  in  them  disappointments  and  regrets,  and  that  he  epoke 
of  these  and  showed  them  in  his  intercourse  with  his  close  friends. 
But  it  is  not  true  that  these  feelings  arose  from  any  inward  sense  of 
wrong  doing  or  want  of  manliness  on  his  part  in  his  election  or  at 
any  other  time.  He  had  been  a  bold,  aggressive  leader  of  the  Democ- 
racy of  his  State  and  Nation  because  he  believed  its  principles  and 
teachings  were  for  the  best  interests  of  the  people.  He  had  seen  it 
come  into  power  and  he  wanted  to  see  it  keep  its  pledges  and  fulfill 


296  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

its  promised  mission  in  bringing  prosperity  to  the  homes  of  the  peo- 
ple. His  great  heart  was  in  it.  He  had  his  own  convictions  as  to 
w-hat  had  been  promised. and  as  to  what  was  expected.  He  soon  came 
to  that  point  where  he  had  to  surrender  these  convictions  or  be  in 
antagonism  to  the  policy  of  the  head  of  his  party.  The  world  knows 
how  he  made  his  choice.  In  making  this  choice  it  was  but  natural 
that  he  should  desire  to  see  his  North  Carolina  friends  go  with  him, 
and  it  is  but  natural  that  he  should  have  felt  keenly  the  disappoint- 
ment when  he  saw  some  who  had  been  very  close  to  him  leave  him 
and  join  in  with  the  advocates  of  the  President's  policy. 

If  I  am  not  making  this  reply  to  your  letter  too  long  I  will  state 
another  fact  in  connection  wdth  what  I  have  alread}'  said.  It  is  this  : 
Governor  Vance  made  a  campaign  in  1876  for  the  redemption  of  his 
State,  which  will  live  in  history.  In  that  campaign  he  had  the  hearty 
and  united  support  of  his  party.  Success  crowned  his  efforts  and  he 
saw  his  State  grow  and  develop  and  prosper  under  the  party  which  he 
had  led  to  victory.  He  felt  a  personal  pride  in  its  achievements  and  in 
its  record.  He  had  fondly  hoped  to  see  it  continue  in  power  ;  but  as 
early  as  1889  and  1890  he  saw  dangers  ahead  unless  some  financial  re- 
lief could  be  worked  out  for  the  farmers  of  the  State  through  Congress. 
He  believed  and  honestly  believed  that  his  party  had  done  all  that 
could  be  done  for  the  good  of  the  people  within  the  sphere  of  its  power 
in  the  State  and  that  nothing  but  harm  could  come  to  the  State  by 
driving  this  party  from  power.  And  j-et  he  felt  that  unless  something 
was  done  by  the  national  Legislature  for  the  relief  of  the  farmers, 
that  the  influences  then  at  work  would  disintegrate  the  party  and  lose 
the  State.  He  was  therefore  doubly  solicitous  to  see  his  party,  when 
it  came  into  complete  control  of  the  national  government,  enact  such 
laws  as  would  bring  this  relief  to  his  people  and  save  his  party  from 
wreck  and  ruin.  He  lived  to  see  his  party  fail  in  what  he  thought  was 
its  duty,  but  he  did  not  live  to  see  its  defeat.  He  was  gathered  to  his 
Father's  before  the  disastrous  defeat  of  1894  came. 

The  anxieties,  the  failures,  the  disappointments  to  which  I  have 
referred,  tinged  the  last  years  of  his  noble  life  with  a  sadness  that  ill 
became  his  joyous,  happy  nature.  No  thought  that  he  had  ever  been  un- 
faithful to  himself  or  his  people  ever  entered  his  great  soul  to  embitter 
or  sadden  his  life  and  those  who  attributed  any  of  his  seeming  sadness 
to  such  a  cause,  if  there  be  any  such  persons,  wrong  both  him  and 
themselves. 

In  this  letter  I  have  kept  within  the  bounds  of  jour  inquiries,  and 
I  have  written  what  I  believe  to  be  the  facts.  Of  my  opportunities  to 
know  the  facts  I  leave  others  to  say.  You  can  make  such  use  of  the 
letter  of  any  part  of  it  as  you  may  see  proper. 

With  a  sincere  desire  for  the  success  of  your  generous  efforts  to 
perpetuate  the  name  and  fame  of  deeds  of  North  Carolina's  greatest 
and  best  beloved  son,  I  am         Truly  yours,        THOS.  J.  JARVIS.    ■ 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  297 

In  the  light  of  the  foregoing  facts,  let  the  following  open 
letter  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  written  by  Senator 
Vance  in  September,  1892,  be  carefully  read.  Let  his 
strong  and  clear  utterances  in  respect  to  the  Democratic 
party  and  the  Farmers'  Alliance,  then  called  the  Third 
party,  be  carefully  noted,  and  let  the  severest  critic  say 
wherein  there  is  equivocation,  or  uncertainty,  or  where  is 
to  be  found  a  feeble  or  uncandid  expression.  His  language 
is  as  direct  and  as  strong,  as  well  chosen  Saxon  words  could 
make  it,  resembling  in  its  force  and  clearness  the  limpid 
waters  of  the  rivulets  that  gallop  down  the  sides  of  his 
native  mountains: 

My  FELI.0W-C1TIZENS — For  many  years  past  I  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  you  in  person  during  important  campaigns  and 
addressing  you  upon  the  political  issues  of  the  time.  Being  on  this 
occasion  prevented  this  privilege  by  the  condition  of  my  health,  and 
earnestly  believing  that  the  qtiestions  to  be  decided  by  our  November 
elections  are  of  vital  importance  to  the  public  welfare,  I  am  induced 
to   contribute   in   this  way  my  share  in  the  discussion  of  them. 

I  regard  the  situation  as  most  critical. 

Since  i860  the  legislation  of  our  country  has  been  almost  exclu- 
sively within  the  power  of  one  political  party.  Naturally  it  has  ceased 
to  be  general  in  its  beneficence  and  has  become  local  and  partial  in 
the  extreme.  The  law-making  power  has  become  the  fearfully  effi- 
cient implement  of  such  classes,  corporations,  cliques  and  combina- 
tions as  could  by  fair  means  or  foul  obtain  control  of  it.  It  has  been 
:nade  to  subserve  purely  personal  ends.  In  divers  ways  the  taxing 
power  of  the  government  has  been  perverted  from  public  to  private 
purposes  ;  money  is  levied  thereby  to  enrich  manufacturers,  to  sup- 
press rivalry  in  business,  and  in  every  conceivable  way  to  help  the 
favored  few  at  the  expense  of  the  many.  The  varied  corrupting  in- 
fluences upon  the  business  world  arising  from  this  legislation  produce 
their  natural  effect.  The  classes  whose  business  was  thus  favored 
flourish  apace,  whilst  the  unfavored  have  experienced  in  the  midst  of 
peace  ancj  plenty  all  the  losses  and  hardships  which  are  commonly 
felt  only  in  times  of  public  calamity;  and  the  extraordinar}-  spectacle 
is  presented  of  a  nation  whose  aggregate  wealth  is  rapidl}^  and  vastly 
increasing,  whilst  the  individual  wealth  of  its  chief  toilers  and  wealth- 
producers  is  diminishing  in  proportion  thereto. 

From  the  Republican  party,  with  its  disregard  of  the  limitations 
of  the  Constitution  and  its  natural  dependence  for  support  upon  the 
money  of   the  people  whom  it  had  enriched,  all  of   this  corrupt  legis- 


298  LIFE  OF  VANCE. 

lation  has  proceeded.     Without   it  there   was   nothing   evil  done  that 
was  done. 

It  follows  as  an  undeniable  truth,  that  whoever  directly  or  indi- 
rectly upholds,  helps  or  supports  that  party  is  a  friend  to  the  cor- 
ruptions which  it  has  produced,  and  is  an  enemy  to  those  who  would 
repeal  that  legislation  and  reform  the  abuses  founded  upon  it.  There 
is  no  escape  from  this. 

The  Democratic  party,  on  the  contrary,  believes  in  the  strict  lim- 
itations of  the  Constitution,  and  has,  as  a  party,  steadily  opposed  all 
abuse  of  the  taxing  power  or  any  other  power  of  the  general  govern- 
ment for  private  purposes,  and  has  unceasingly  advocated  the  most 
absolute  and  perfect  equality  of  all  citizens  in  the  legislation  of  our 
country. 

There  is  not  a  single  wrong  or  injustice  of  which  complaint  is 
made  in  our  laws  for  thirt}'  years  past  which  can  justly  be  charged  to 
the  Democratic  party.  Not  one.  It  has  ever  been  a  break-water 
against  the  tyrannical  tendencies  of  the  Republicans;  and  though  in  a 
minority  has  been  able  to  prevent  some  of  the  worst  legislation  ever 
attempted,  and  to  modify  other  laws  which  in  their  original  inquity 
would  have  been  intolerable. 

This  statement  of  the  acts  and  purposes  of  the  two  great  political 
parties  cannot  be  truthfully'  denied. 

Now  what  is  the  situation  ?  What  is  it  the  manifest  duty  of  our 
people  to  do  in  the  coming  elections  ? 

The  two  great  political  parties  into  which  our  people  are  mainly 
divided  are  once  more  in  the  field  with  their  platforms  of  principles 
and  their  candidates.  State  and  Federal,  thereon.  The  Republicans 
profess  all  of  their  old  doctrines  from  which  have  come  the  evils  of 
which  the  people  complain  ;  they  glory  in  that  abuse  of  the  taxing 
power  which  has  made  a  few  rich  and  millions  poor,  and  seeking  new 
fields  of  injustice  and  opression,  they  openly  declare  their  intention 
to  take  from  the  States  the  right  to  control  the  election  of  their  own 
representatives,  which  is  the  chief  bulwark  of  their  rights  and  liberties. 

The  Democrats  re-afifirm  their  adherence  to  the  Constitution,  their 
opposition  to  tariff  robbery,  to  banking  monopoly  and  to  corporate 
oppression  in  all  its  forms,  and  their  desire  to  leave  the  power  to  con- 
trol elections  where  the  Constitution  left  it,  and  where  it  has  resided 
for  more  than  one  hundred  years.  Primarily  it  would  seem  that  no 
Democrat,  and  especially  no  Southern  Democrat,  could  hesitate  for  a 
single  moment  as  to  which  of  these  parties  deserved  his  support. 

But  a  new  party  has  arisen  which  is  endeavoring  to  make  the  peo- 
ple believe  that  the  Democratic  party  is  no  longer  to  be  trusted.  The 
argument  to  prove  this  is  a  travesty  on  common  sense:  That  because 
for  thirty  years  they  have  as  a  party  steadily  opposed  all  abuses  and 
have  not  been  able  at  any  time  to  prevent  or  reform  them,  therefore 
it  is  no  longer  worthy   of  the  support   of  those   who  desire    reform. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  299 

The  meaning  of  this  is,  the  Democratic  party  has  been  guilty  of 
being  in  a  minority.  Its  sin  consists  in  not  having  done  that  which 
it  could  not  do  !  Then  let  it  be  condemned,  whilst  the  Republican 
party,  which  has  had  the  power  and  actually  did  all  these  things,  and 
still  had  the  power  to  undo  them  and  does  not,  is  acquitted.  Nay, 
we  will  help  it  to  keep  in  power  by  betraying  and  destroying  its  only 
enemy.  Therefore,  as  the  Democratic  party,  with  its  vast  organiza- 
tion in  every  State,  county  and  township  in  the  United  States,  with 
its  control  of  one  branch  of  Congress  and  comprising  in  the  popular 
vote  a  large  majority  of  all  the  people  in  the  Union,  has  not  been 
strong  enough  heretofore  to  effect  the  reforms  for  which  it  has  labored 
and  wished,  being  without  the  Senate  and  executive,  they  claim  the 
only  chance  for  reform  is  to  vote  for  the  candidates  of  this  Third 
party,  whose  existence  in  the  national  government  and  power  to  con- 
trol legislation  are  evidenced  by  three  or  four  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  and  two  in  the  Senate! 

Common  sense  and  self-preservation  would  seem  to  dictate  that 
we  should  help  the  Democrats,  who  are  almost  in  power,  to  get  alto- 
gether in  power,  and  trust  them  to  correct  abuses  as  they  have  prom- 
ised. One  strong  pull  in  November  next  would  give  them  control  of 
both  branches  of  Congress  and  the  executive,  and  the  long  night 
of  misrule  and  injustice  would  burst  into  the  dawn  of  a  new  and  bet- 
ter day.  It  would  be  time  enough  to  leave  them  and  form  a  new 
party  when  they  had  been  tried  and  proved  faithless. 

But  the  leaders  of  this  new  party,  falsely  called  the  People's,  insist 
that  you  shall  abandon  the  Democratic  party  now  and  vote  with  them. 
I  am  grieved  to  know  that  there  are  quite  a  number  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens in  North  Carolina  who  propose  to  follow  that  advice.  It  strikes 
me  as  the  very  extreme  of  unwisdom ;  and  when  done  with  a  full  knowl- 
edge of  the  consequences  it  ceases  to  be  mere  folly  and  becomes  a 
crime.  For  whatever  may  be  the  hopes  or  the  wishes  of  these  men, 
they  know  as  well  as  they  know  of  their  own  existence,  that  this  party 
has  not  only  no  chance  of  electing  their  candidates  at  the  polls,  but 
also  none  of  throwing  the  election  into  the  House  of  Representatives, 
about  which  they  appear  to  be  most  sanguine.  Let  no  man  be  deceived 
about  this.  The  handful  of  votes  which  will  be  cast  for  Weaver  in  this 
State,  be  it  as  large  as  they  can  earnestly  claim,  cannot  wrest  the  elec- 
toral vote  from  both  Cleveland  and  Harrison,  so  as  to  help  throw  the 
choice  into  the  House.  It  is  absurd  to  hope  so.  But  thirty  thousand 
(30,000)  votes  taken  from  Cleveland  and  given  to  Weaver  will  throw 
the  vote,  not,  indeed,  into  a  Democratic  House,  but  into  the  hands  of 
Harrison.  This  result  was  so  plain  that  the  Republican  leaders,  not- 
withstanding their  professions  to  the  contrary,  determined  to  not  let 
slip  the  opportunity,  and  they  are  now  ready  with  full  tickets  and  a 
complete  organization  to  avail  themselves  of  everything  which  the 
dissension  and  folly  of  our  people  may  throw  into  their  laps.     Their 


300  I<II''E   OF   VANCE. 

promises  to  run  no  State  ticket  were  manifestly  made  with  the  inten- 
tion of  alluring  a  third  party  ticket  into  the  field,  trusting  that  when 
men  get  hot  and  bad  blood  prevailed,  they  might  walk  off  with  the 
prize  in  both  State  and  Federal  elections.  Alas  !  that  want  of  reflec- 
tion or  patriotism  should  render  this  scheme  a  probable  success. 
Indeed,  it  is  so  plain  that  no  intelligent  man  can  fail  to  see  it  or  honest 
one  deny  it,  that  the  only  probable,  not  to  say  possible  result,  of  the 
Third  party  movement  in  North  Carolina  this  fall  will  be  to  elect  a  full 
Republican  State  ticket  and  to  aid  in  the  election  of  a  Republican 
President  and  House  of  *Representatives.  What  is  to  be  gained  by  that 
result  I  need  not  ask.  How  the  reforms  which  they  profess  to  desire 
are  to  be  obtained  through  Republican  success  is  something  which 
surpasses  human  conjecture.  No  true  friend  of  this  commonwealth,  I 
am  sure,  will  contribute  to  this  result.  It  is  reported  that  a  prominent 
candidate  on  the  ticket  of  the  Third  party  says  he  had  rather  submit 
to  negro  or  any  kind  of  rule  than  such  as  we  have  at  present;  but  I  am 
forced  to  believe  that,  if  this  be  true,  there  are  very  few  other  white 
men  of  North  Carolina  who  are  outside  of  the  penitentiary  and  who 
ought  to  be  outside,  who  entertain  sentiments  so  foul  and  brutal.  Our 
people  know  that  under  Democratic  rule  they  have  had  good  laws,  low 
taxes,  economy,  and  purity  in  the  administration  of  their  affairs,  and  I 
hope  and  believe  they  will  not  lightly  risk  its  overthrow  by  casting 
tiseless  or  hopeless  votes  in  November. 

The  class  of  our  people  who  have  had  greatest  cause  to  complain 
of  vicious  legislation  is  the  agricultural.  The  party  which  has  steadily 
resisted  this,  and  continually  declaimed  against  it  on  the  hustings  and 
have  struggled  manfully  to  repeal  it  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  is  the 
Democratic.  You  will  bear  me  witness  that  unremittingly  since  I 
have  been  your  representative  in  the  Senate  I  have  both  spoken  and 
voted  against  that  unjust  legislation.  At  home,  as  you  know,  I  never 
ceased  to  expose  its  inequalities  and  to  advise  the  farmers  to  organize 
for  resistance  to  it.  When  they  did  begin  to  combine  they  had  the 
sympathy  and  good  wishes  of  almost  every  just  man  in  the  United 
States  who  was  not  in  some  way  the  recipient  of  the  plunder  arising 
from  this  abuse. 

Never  was  there  a  political  movement  of  our  people  founded  upon 
better  grounds  or  more  reasonable  complaint.  But  that  which  I  feared, 
and  against  which  I  earnestly  warned  them,  soon  came  to  pass.  Men 
who  had  little  interest  in  agriculture  and  much  interest  in  their  own 
fortunes,  aspired  to  be  its  leaders.  Often  men  who  had  failed  to  obtain 
oflSce  from  either  of  the  old  political  parties  concluded  to  farm  the 
farmers  and  raise  personal  crops  of  honor  and  profit  out  of  them. 
They  pressed  to  the  front,  thrust  the  real  farmers  aside,  and  involved 
the  Alliance  in  the  wildest  and  most  impracticable  propositions  ever 
heard  of  among  sane  men,  and  in  defiance  of  their  constitution  soon 
converted  it  into  a  mere  political  partj-  composed  of  the  discontented 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  30I 

and  the  disappointed  elements  of  society,  professing  no  fixed  political 
principles  or  regard  for  the  Constitution  of  their  country,  but  striving 
only  to  obtain  the  very  worst  of  class  legislation,  which  is  their  sole 
idea  of  statesmanship.  Their  proposition  to  purchase  and  control  all 
the  lines  of  transportation  and  telegraph  in  the  United  States  at  the 
expense  of  many  billions  of  dollars,  and  of  refunding  to  the  soldiers 
the  difference  between  paper  and  gold  at  the  date  of  their  payment,  at 
least  a  billion  more;  of  loaning  people  money  on  real  estate  at  lower 
rates  of  interest  than  the  market  rates,  and  kindred  schemes,  are  so 
preposterous  that  to  argue  them  seriously  is  a  slander  upon  our  civili- 
zation; and  the  advocacy  of  such  measures  for  the  hitherto  most  con- 
servative element  of  our  society  is  a  notification  to  all  the  world  that 
we  are  approaching  that  stage  of  demagoguism  and  communism  which 
mark  a  people  as  unfit  for  self-government. 

My  unfaltering  confidence  is  in  the  true  farmers  of  North  Caro- 
lina, who  as  members  of  that  Alliance  will,  I  trust,  not  permit  their 
noble  order  and  their  just  cause  to  be  thus  perverted  and  debased. 
Rest  assured  that  no  real  friend  of  that  noble  class  of  men  who,  under 
the  providence  of  God,  give  us  our  daily  bread,  will  ever  consent  to 
this  degradation  of  their  cause  into  the  obsequious  tool  of  unscrupu- 
lous, ambitious  men,  forfeiting  the  sympathy  of  all  moderate  people, 
and  making  the  very  name  of  Alliance  to  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  jus- 
tice and  common  sense.  I  can  but  believe  the  good  judgment  of  our 
farmers  will  enable  them  to  see  where  these  leaders  are  taking  them, 
and  that  their  native  honesty  will  impel  them  to  draw  back  in  time  to 
save  their  country. 

Many  of  our  people,  it  is  true,  have  objected  to  Mr.  Cleveland, 
and  preferred  that  he  should  not  have  been  nominated.  L confess 
that  I  was  among  that  number.  But  an  individual  preference  before 
the  nomination  of  a  candidate  is  one  thing,  and  the  duty  of  a  true  man 
after  that  nomination  has  been  fairly  made  is  another  and  very  differ- 
ent thing  indeed.  In  the  one  case  a  preference  may  be  indulged  in 
properly,  without  danger  to  the  principles  we  profess  or  the  party 
which  has  those  principles  in  charge;  in  the  other  case  we  endanger 
both,  and  falsify  our  pretentions,  by  contributing  undeniably  to  the 
success  of  our  adversaries.  If  we  refuse  to  abide  by  the  voice  of  the 
majority  of  our  fellow-Democrats,  freely  and  unmistakably  expressed 
in  friendly  convention,  there  is  an  end  of  all  associated  party  effort 
in  the  government  of  our  country;  if  we  personally  participate  in  that 
consultation  or  convention  and  then  refuse  to  abide  by  the  decision 
of  the  tribunal  of  our  own  selection,  then  there  is  an  end  of  all  per- 
sonal honor  among  men,  and  the  confidence  which  is  necessary  to  all 
combined  effort  is  gone  forever.  The  man  who  bets  proposing  to  col- 
lect if  he  wins  and  to  repudiate  if  he  loses,  is  in  all  countries  and 
among  all  classes  of  people  considered  a  dishonest  man. 

But  if  the  considerations  of  good  faith  do  not  influence  men's  ac- 


302  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

tions  in  such  a  case  as  this,  surely  those  which  pertain  to  the  public 
welfare  ought  to  be  decisive.  If  not  satisfied  with  Mr.  Cleveland,  it 
seems  to  me  an  honest  man  should  balance  accounts,  pro  and  con,  in 
this  way  :  Cleveland  agrees  with  me  in  desiring  to  reform  the  oppres- 
sive tariff  taxation,  to  restrict  the  abuse  of  corporate  privileges,  to 
repeal  the  tax  on  State  banks  and  thereby  to  expand  the  currency,  and 
above  all  he  is  vehementh-  opposed  to  Force  bills  and  all  similar  at- 
tempts to  destroy  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  States.  In  all  essential 
reforms  he  agrees  with  me  except  in  the  single  matter  of  the  free 
coinage  of  silver,  and  in  respect  to  this  there  is  reason  to  hope  that 
the  same  candor  and  vigorous  investigation  which  brought  him  in  full 
sympathy  with  his  party  on  the  great  question  of  tariff  reform  will 
soon  bring  him  to  see  the  absolute  necessity  of  maintaining  both  of  the 
precious  metals  on  a  par  to  meet  the  urgent  needs  of  the  currency  of 
the  world.  Harrison,  on  the  contrary,  agrees  with  me  in  nothing  ; 
there  is  no  change  or  reform  which  I  desire  that  he  is  not  bitterly  op- 
posed to,  and  his  party  with  him.  Why,  then,  should  I  hesitate  ? 
Either  my  vote  for  Weaver  will  help  Harrison  and  injure  Cleveland, 
or  it  will  not — it  can  not  avail  Weaver,  for  he  has  no  chance  whatever, 
will  probably  not  carry  a  single  State  ;  why,  then,  should  I  risk  doing  a 
damage  to  the  candidate  who  would  do  most  for  me,  though  he  does 
not  promise  to  do  all,  and  contribute  to  the  election  of  the  one  who 
promises  me  nothing  but  an  indefinite  continuance  of  existing  wrongs 
and  an  insolent  threat  of  other  and  greater  wrongs  so  soon  as  he  has 
the  power  to  perpetrate  them  ? 

It  seems  to  me,  fellow-citizens,  that  the  path  of  duty  was  never 
more  plain  or  the  necessity  of  walking  in  it  more  imperative  than  it  is 
at  this  nioment.  Let  me  beg  your  earnest  consideration  of  the  situa- 
tion before  you  vote  in  November,  and  before  you  cut  loose  from  the 
old  constitutional  Democratic  party,  which  in  times  of  our  extreme 
peril  has  so  often  brought  us  forth  out  of  the  house  of  bondage,  and 
abandon  its  shining  banners  to  follow  reckless  and  incompetent  men 
into  the  wilderness  of  their  unreal  schemes.  Think  well  of  the  possi- 
ble result  of  your  action  ;  how  easy  it  is  to  destroy,  how  hard  to  rebuild. 
I  recently  cut  down  in  my  mountain  home,  in  about  five  hours,  a  tree 
that  had  taken  five  hundred  years  to  grow. 

The  Democratic  parly  is  strong  and  able  and  willing  to  help  you  ; 
its  arm  is  not  shortened  that  it  can  not  save  you  ;  to  cherish  and  up- 
hold it  is  the  dictate  of  patriotism  and  common  sense. 

Your  fellow-citizen, 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 
Gombroon,  Sept.  17,  1892. 

An  impartial  reading  of  the  foregoing  letter  must  remove 
from  the  mind  of  every  fair  man,  any  idea  that  Vance  was 
not  loyal  to  the  Democratic  part>-  or  that  he  had  any  sym- 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  3^3 

pathy  whatever  with   the  Third  party,  and   would  seem 
to  have  been  enough  to  silence  all  clamor  in  that  respect. 

But  in  Julv  of  the  next  year  another  bombshell  is  thrown. 
Vance  wrote  a  letter  to  the  President    of  the  Mecklenburg 
County   Alliance.     The   very  fact,  the  very  idea  was  pre- 
posterous and   startling.     The   critics   became  busy  again 
and  the  newspapers  sent  up  a  chorus  of   censure.     Some 
said  Vance  was  gone  over  to  the  Alliance  bag  and  baggage. 
Some  said  his  failing  health  had  weakened   his  mind,  and 
various  other  causes  and  moti\'es  were  assigned.     He   cer- 
tainly had  no  motive  of  immediate  personal  concern  for  he 
had  been  elected  but  a  little  more  than  a  year  before  and 
had  five  years  yet  to  serve.      Still  his  motive  was  clear 
enough  to  any  one  who  wants  to  see  straight  and  judge 
fairly.     The  repeal  bill  was  pending  in  Congress.     Vance 
believed  the  passage  of  that  bill  would  be  injurious  to  the 
country.     He  said  in  his  speech  in   the  Senate  delivered 
only  two  months  later,   in  prophetic  language,  that  if  this 
act  was  passed,  there  would  be  no   more   legislation  favor- 
able to  silver  during  that  administration.     He   was  using 
all  his  energies  to  defeat  it.     He  was  glad  of  sympathy  and 
re-enforcement  from  any  source.     Another  reason  was  that 
these    people    were    his    neighbors    and    personal    friends. 
They  had  sent  him  a  respectful  communication  as  their 
Senator.     Who  will  say  he  should   not  have  treated  them 
with  consideration  and  respect  ?     He  did  not  fulminate  any 
new  doctrines.      He  did  not  waver  in  the  steady  course  he 
had  ever  pursued,  but  only  repeated  and  reasserted  what  he 
had   said   a  thousand   times   from   the  stump  and   in   the 
Senate. 

An  examination  of  the  newspaper  criticisms  even  at  this 
short  interval  reveals  facts  that  are  interesting  and  amus- 
ing. The  burden  of  the  criticism  of  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  influential  papers  in  the  state  upon  this  letter  was 
that  ''the  Senator  could  not  see  his  way  clear  to  ao-ree 
with  his  party  as  to  the  repeal  bill  and  as  to  the  coinage  of 


304  WFE   OF  VANCE. 

silver  upon  some  such  basis  as  will  ensure  its  circulation 
on  a  parity  with  gold."  But  was  he  out  of  plumb  with  his 
party?  Viewed  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events  was 
Vance  or  his  critics  out  of  the  party  alignment?  Cleve- 
land was  in  favor  of  the  repeal  bill  but  a  majority  of  the 
the  Democrtic  Senators  voted,  as  Vance  did,  against  it. 
And  was  the  independent  free  coinage  of  silver  a  cardinal 
doctrine  of  the  Democratic  party  ?  Let  the  Chicago  plat- 
form on  which  Bryan  was  nominated  for  President  and  the 
millions  of  voters  who  sustained  him  answer.  How  did 
Vance  know  in  1893  and  earlier  so  much  more  about  the 
trend  of  public  thought  and  events  than  his  critics  knew  ? 
And  should  not  those  who  said  hard  things  of  him  for 
favoring  free  coinage  and  afterwards  themselves  supported 
Bryan  for  President,  see  and  feel  the  error  of  their  course  ? 
His  convictions  were  strong  and  he  was  generally  right. 
His  intuitions  were  powerful  and  nearly  always  unerring. 
He  was  born  wise  as  to  the  feelings  and  aspirations  of  the 
common  people.  He  seemed  to  know  as  by  intuition  what 
they  wanted  and  what  they  needed.  He  was  the  born 
leader  and  tribune  of  the  great  masses,  the  Magnus  Apollo 
of  the  common  people.  He  was  in  advance  of  his  party 
on  the  silver  question  but  yet  on  the  direct  line  of  its  sub- 
sequent movement.  Here  is  the  letter  to  the  Mecklenburg 
Alliance  : 

Gombroon,  Near  Black  Mountain,  N.  C,  July  19,  1893. 
7?.  IV.  Elliott,  Esq.,  Secretary  Mecklenburg  County  Alliance : 

Sir — I  have  received  a  copy  of  the  resolution  of  Mecklenburg  Al- 
liance, adopted  at  a  recent  meeting,  urging  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives to  stand  by  the  present  silver  purchasing  law  until  some  satis- 
factory substitute  shall  be  adopted. 

I  observe  this  action  with  great  pleasure,  for  two  reasons  :  In 
the  first  place,  it  is  the  exercise  of  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  legiti- 
mate functions  by  which  the  Alliance  can  be  made  to  subserve  the  in- 
terest of  the  farmers — the  concentration  of  their  whole  influence 
upon  the  issues  of  the  day.  In  view  of  the  notorious  fact  of  combina- 
tions among  all  other  branches  of  industry  and  in  every  form  of  capi- 
tal, I  years  ago  urged  upon  our  agricultural  classes   the  importance  of 


UFE   OF  VANCE.  305 

such  organization  as  would  enable  them  to  make  their  vast  but  widely 
scattered  and  disjointed  strength  felt,  promptly  and  efficiently,  in 
legislation.  Now,  the  preservation  of  silver  as  a  part  of  our  currency 
is  one  of  the  most  vital  of  all  the  issues  which  our  people  have  been 
called  upon  to  decide  for  half  a  century.  The  enemies  of  silver  money 
have  displayed  a  wonderftil  sagacity  in  their  tactics.  Though  scat- 
tered throughout  the  civilized  world  they  have  obeyed  a  single  voice 
from  headquarters  in  London.  From  New  York  the  word  comes 
down  the  line  to  all  American  capital  and  the  response  is  immediate. 
What  is  known  as  the  Sherman  law  is  the  only  legislation  on  our 
statute  books  which  binds  us  to  the  use  of  silver,  and  the  cry  is  raised 
for  its  repeal  under  various  pretences,  all  equally  false.  The  banks, 
stock-brokers,  bondholders,  chambers  of  commerce,  et  id  omne 
genus,  clamor  for  its  repeal  and  urge  the  call  of  an  extra  session  of 
Congress  to  assemble  and  sit  during  the  dog  days  for  that  purpose 
alone.  Tariff  repeal,  which  formed  the  chief  issue  of  the  past  cam- 
paign, is  thrust  to  the  rear,  and  the  interest  of  capital  is  placed  in 
front,  to  be  dealt  with  under  the  demoralizing  conditions  of  a  fraudu- 
lent panic  created  by  capital  itself  and  called  by  Mr.  Ingersoll  "the 
bankers'  panic." 

Under  these  alarming  circumstances  I  have  listened,  and  mostly 
in  vain,  for  the  voice  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance  sounding  their  opinions 
and  the  wishes  of  those  they  represent,  composingfuUj^one-half  of  the 
nation,  giving  the  feeble  and  vacillating  among  politicians  to  under- 
stand what  they  had  to  expect  if  they  betrayed  the  people's  cause  in 
this  great  financial  question.  The  action  of  your  Alliance  is  the  first 
official  utterance  on  the  subject  I  have  seen  in  the  State.  It  is  time 
your  order  was  bringing  every  atom  of  its  influence  to  bear.  It  should 
use  every  means  possible  to  let  it  be  known  that  there  is  yet  another 
and  entirely  different  world  in  the  fields  and  homes  of  toil,  whose  in- 
terests demand  attention  as  well  as  that  combination  of  money  dealers, 
stock-brokers,  gamblers  and  speculators  who  assume  for  themselves 
to  constitute  the  business  interests  of  the  land.  The  effect  of  this 
prompt  and  united  action  cannot  possibly  be  doubted. 

In  the  next  place  I  was  glad  to  read  the  resolutions  of  your  Alli- 
ance, because  they  concurred  with  my  own  most  serious  convictions. 
Many  years  ago,  after  as  thorough  and  impartial  an  examination  of 
the  question  as  I  was  capable  of  making,  I  came  to  the  absolute  con- 
clusion that  the  use  of  silver  as  well  as  gold,  on  equal  terms,  as  the 
basis  of  our  currency  was  best  for  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  This  view  has  governed  my  course  in  Congress.  The 
fact  that  nature  sometimes  yielded  more  of  one  metal  than  of  the 
other,  thus  causing  a  discrepancy  in  their  intrinsic  values,  did  not  dis- 
turb me;  for  I  learned  from  history  that  for  nearly  three  hundred 
years  during  which  a  ratio  between  the  two  metals  was  fixed  by  law, 
the   fluctuations   in  intrinsic  value  had  never  exceeded  3^  per  cent.; 

21 


3o6  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

and  that,  soon  after  that  law  was  withdrawn,  great  and  material  fluc- 
tuations immediately  began,  which  will  doubtless  continue  so  long  as 
we  treat  one  metal  as  of  fixed  and  standard  value  and  the  other  as  a 
commodity.  It  is  not  necessary  to  go  over  all  the  grounds  in  which 
my  conviction  was  founded.  I  simply  wish  to  assure  you  that  my 
opinions  are  unchanged. 

Recent  developments,  which  seem  to  have  unsettled  so  mau}^  silver 
advocates,  and  make  them  give  way  to  the  repeal  of  the  vSherman  law, 
has  rather  strengthened  me  in  the  determination  to  yield  nothing  to 
the  monometalists,  whose  schemes  I  regard  as  absolutely  selfish  and 
unpatriotic.  The  "panic"  so  industriously  advertised,  is  known  now 
to  have  been  created  by  them;  and  will  be  known  hereafter  as  the  rich 
man's  panic;  the  explosion  of  the  Indian  bomb  is  already  discounted 
as  the  grasping  by  the  government  of  the  profits  of  coining  silver 
rupees  which  heretofore  had  been  reaped  by  British  merchants.  The 
coining  will  go  on  as  largely  as  ever,  only  the  Indian  government  will 
pocket  the  40  per  cent,  gain  and  not  the  merchants.  England  does  not 
dare  to  demonetize  silver  in  India,  which  alone  makes  her  demonetize 
it  at  home.  There  is  not  spare  gold  enough  in  the  world  to  replace  the 
$900,000,000  of  silver  in  that  country. 

The  attempt  to  do  so  would  bankrupt  half  of  Christendom,  and 
England  well  knows  it.  The  suggestion  is  pure  bluff,  and  can  only 
disturb  a  politician  who  holds  a  very  weak  hand.  Nor  have  the  allega- 
tions so  distressingly  shouted  that  the  vSherman  law  was  causing  our 
gold  to  leave  the  country  had  any  effect  on  me.  From  the  beginning  I 
knew  them  to  be  false.  Gold  went  out  because  we  owed  it  abroad, 
and  the  balance  of  trade  was  against  us.  Shipments  of  wheat  have 
turned  the  tide,  and  it  is  now  coming  in.  Some  of  our  securities  did 
come  home  and  take  off  gold  in  payment,  but  this  hurt  nobody  except 
speculators  in  them,  who  were  fearful  that  the  price  would  fall  and 
they  would  lose  money.  But  even  those  which  did  come  from  abroad 
came  in  consequence  of  the  scare  got  up  by  our  own  capitalists.  Of 
course  foreigners  believe  the  stories  of  the  ruin  and  bankruptc}^  if  the 
Sherman  law  was  not  repealed,  which  our  own  people  told  them. 

Finally,  I  hope  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  say  that  the  hope  of 
ingratiating  myself  with  the  administration  in  order  to  secure  patron- 
age at  its  hands,  has  in  no  sense  affected  my  opinion  of  right  in  the 
premises.  How  far  such  a  motive  may  operate  in  the  repeal  of  that 
law  I  have  no  means  of  knowing.  I  believe,  however,  it  will  not  go  a 
great  way.  But  let  things  go  as  they  may,  it  shall  be  my  earnest 
endeavor  to  do  my  duty  in  maintaining  the  cause  of  the  people  by 
preserving  the  character  of  their  money,  and  increasing  its  abundance. 
Very  truly  yours,  Z.   B.  VANCE- 

The  followino;  able   argument   against  the   constitution- 
ality of  the  sub-Treasury  scheme    was    published    in    the 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  3^7 

Raleigh  News  and  Observer  of  October  9,  1891,  without 
signature,  but  Capt.  Samuel  A.  Ashe,  the  editor  of  that 
paper  at  the  time,  authorizes  the  statement  that  it  was 
written  by  Senator  Vance. 

The  general  objects  and  purposes  of  the  Farmers'  Alliance  are  such 
as  attrac't  the  sympathy  and  support  of  all  who  desire  to  see  their 
country  prosper  and  their  fellow-citizens  freed  from  those  environ- 
ments which  put  limitations  on  their  proper  and  lawful  endeavors  to 
promote  their  happiness  and  individual  fortunes. 

Whatever  the  restraints  the  freedom  of  citizens  in  their  rightful 
efforts  to  advance  their  interests  is  oppressive  and  is  of  evil,  and  all 
should  join  to  remove  such  barriers  where  they  exist  and  promote  the 
common  and  general  welfare  of  the  people.  Fully  imbued  with  these 
sentiments,  we  regret  that  the  Farmers'  Alliance  has  sought  to  make 
the  sub-Treasury  bill  the  corner-stone  of  their  measures  of  relief.  The 
general  purpose  in  view,  relief  for  the  people,  enlists  the  cordial  sup- 
port of  all  patriotic  men,  but  the  particular  road  chosen  may  be  im- 
practicable to  travel— the  particular  measure  may  not  be  wisely 
selected.  If  the  sub-Treasury  bill  be  unconstitutional  it  cannot  be 
put  in  operation,  and  time  is  lost  in  seeking  it,  and  bitterness  will 
come  from  the  disappointment,  and  harm  will  spring  from  unsettling 
the  confidence  which  men  have  in  those  who  have  heretofore  served 
them  with  faithfulness,  but  who  for  conscience  sake  cannot  support 
an  unconstitutional  measure. 

Then,  is  the  measure  constitutional  ?  First,  we  recall  that  nearly 
without  exception  every  man  whose  business  it  has  been  to  study  the 
constitution,  either  say  so  emphatically,  or  avoids  a  direct  opinion. 
Is  it  possible  that  these  men  who  have  sought  the  favor  of  the  people 
in  the  past,  would  set  themselves  against  a  measure  that  has  taken 
such  a  hold  upon  the  minds  of  their  people— their  friends,  their  neigh- 
bors, their  constituents— who  have  honored  them  so  highly,  except 
from  the  clearest  conviction  that  the  measure  is  unconstitutional  ? 
Would  they  not  share  in  the  general  benefit,  as  other  citizens  ?  Every 
motive  would  lead  them  to  go  for  the  measure  ;  and  the  fact  that  they 
do  not  is  a  strong  reason  for  believing  that  they  honestly  are  of 
opinion  that  they  cannot  do  so  under  the  constitution. 

Let  us  examine  the  question  then  without  prejudice.  Can  Con- 
gress rightfully  pass  the  measure  ?  The  Federal  Government  is  a 
Government  of  limited  powers.  It  can  law^fully  do  nothing  not  con- 
templated in  the  constitution.  The  constitution  is  its  charter.  Is 
Congress  empowered  to  make  the  la\ys  ? 

In  seeking  to  determine  whether  or  not  a  proposed  law  be  within 
the  power  of  Congress  to  enact,  w^e  first,  of  course,  look  at  the  powers 
specifically  granted  by  the  constitution.  These  are  set  out  in  the  8th 
section  of  the  ist  article,  and  are  contained  in  17  clauses,  each  one 


308  LIFE   OF   VANCF. 

specif}-iug  some  particular  thing  which  Congress  may  do.  But  as  the 
framers  of  the  constitution  wisely  considered  that  it  was  not  practica- 
ble to  enumerate  every  possible  means  and  every  proper  measure  bj^ 
which  the  Congress  should  execute  the  specific  powers,  they  super- 
added the  i8th  clause  to  that  section,  which  is  in  the  following  words, 
to-wit :  "To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for 
carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  powei's  and  all  other  powers 
vested  by  this  constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States  or 
any  department  of  ofiicers  thereof."  The  specific  powers  are  usually 
spoken  of  as  the  express  powers  and  the  others  as  the  implied  powers. 
There  can  be  no  difficulty  in  determining  what  is  an  express  power.  It 
will  speak  for  itself  in  the  plain  words  of  the  constitution.  As  to  de- 
terming  an  "implied"  power  under  the  above  quoted  clause  of  the 
8th  section,  the  rule  has  been  stated  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall  in  the 
case  of  McCiillough  vs.  the  State  of  Maryland,  4th  Wheaton  421,  and 
has  been  accepted  without  departure  from  that  day  to  this.  His  words 
are  :  "Let  the  end  be  legitimate  ;  let  it  be  within  the  scope  of  the 
constitution  ;  and  by  all  means  which  are  appropriate,  which  are 
plainly  adopted  to  that  end,  which  are  not  prohibited,  but  consistent 
with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  constitution,  are  constitutional." 

Therefore  in  order  to  determine  whether  the  enactment  of  the  sub- 
Treasury  bill  be  within  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress,  we 
must  first  look  over  the  express  powers  mentioned  in  the  instrument, 
and  if  we  do  not  find  such  power  there  enumerated,  we  must  then  see 
if  the  provisions  of  the  bill  be  in  any  way  necessary  and  proper  "for 
carrying  into  execution  any  of  the  express  powers." 

If  it  be  found  that  no  such  power  is  granted  expressly,  and  that  the 
law  proposed  is  not  fairly  and  reasonably  auxiliarj'  to  some  express 
power,  as  a  means  of  carrying  into  execution  that  power,  it  is  not  in 
the  language  of  the  constitution  "necessary  and  proper"  to  the  execu- 
tion of  some  express  power,  and  it  will  not  be  contended  by  any  one 
acquainted  with  the  process  of  legal  reasoning  that  the  proposed  law 
is  authorized  by  the  constitution. 

Now  let  any  one  run  over  the  17th  clause  of  Section  8  and  see  if 
he  can  find  there  any  power  conferred  on  Congress  to  build  ware- 
houses in  which  to  receive  and  deposit  the  products  of  farmers  or  any 
other  class,  and  lend  the  owners  money  thereon.  None  such  will  be 
found.  There  is  no  such  clause  there.  The  power  then  is  not  ex- 
expressly  granted.  Then  let  the  enquirer  say,  if  there  be  found 
among  the  powers  expressly  granted  any  one,  for  the  necessary  and 
proper  execution  of  which  the  government  would  be  authorized  to 
build  warehouses,  receive  agricultural  products  on  deposit  and  lend 
money  thereon.  No  such  clause  cair  be  found.  These  things  then 
are  not  necessary  and  proper  for  the  government  to  do,  in  order  to 
exercise  any  power  specifically  conferred.  They  are  not  within  "the 
scope  of  the  constitution,"  nor  "are  they  consistent  with   the   letter 


LIFE   OP  VANCE. 


309 


and  spirit  of  the  constitution.     They  are  then   not   embraced   in   any 
implied  power. 

Those  who  assert  either  that  there  is  such  an  express  power  in  the 
Constitution,  or  that  there  is  such  a  power  there  as  would  make  the 
lending  of  money  to  private  parties  on  agricultural  or  other  products 
a  necessary  and  proper  law  for  carrying  it  into  execution,  must  prove 
it  affirmatively.  There  is  not  a  clause  in  the  8th  section  looking  in 
such  a  direction. 

There  is  no  clause  under  which  it  could  possibly  be  claimed  un- 
less it  be  the  first  one,  which  is  in  these  words,  to-wit:  "The  Congress 
shall  have  power  to  pay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imports  and  excises  to 
pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defense  and  general  wel- 
fare of  the  United  States."  The  last  words  of  this  clause — "general 
welfare  of  the  United  States,"  are  those  under  which  nearly  all  the 
dangerous  departures  from  true  constitutional  construction  have  been 
made.  But  even  here  the  meaning  is  so  obvious,  they  refer  so  mani- 
festly to  the  welfare  of  the  States  in  their  corporate  capacity,  that 
no  reasonable  man,  much  less  any  Jeffersonian  Democrat,  can  seriously 
hold  that  they  confer  upon  Congress  the  power  to  provide  for  the 
welfare  of  any  individual  citizen.  It  is  to  provide  for  the  defence  of 
the  country,  the  welfare  of  the  country  as  a  whole.  The  power  to 
provide  for  defense  and  welfare  of  the  individual  citizen  is  left  to 
the  State.     If  not  nothing  is  left  to  them. 

By  the  Constitution  the  State  surrendered  to  the  General  Govern- 
ment so  much  of  their  sovereignty  as  pertained  to  them  in  their  inde- 
pendent national  charter,  and  which  entitled  them  to  deal  with  other 
nations  on  equal  terms  as  sovereign,  independent  States;  and  it  is  in 
this  capacity  that  Congress  is  authorized  to  provide  for  their  common 
defense  and  general  welfare,  with  the  proceeds  of  the  taxes  which  the 
clause  gives  it  power  to  levy  and  collect.  No  court  has  ever  held 
otherwise  or  doubted  this.  The  clause  is  not  applicable  to  individual 
citizens — but  the  object  of  any  action  under  it  must  be  the  defense  and 
welfare  of  the  United  States. 

But  suppose  for  a  moment  that  the  clause  does  mean  that  Congress 
has  the  power,  and  that  it  is  therefore  its  duty  to  provide  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  individual  citizens  of  the  United  States;  now  not  only  all 
law)-ers  but  all  just  men  will  admit  that  one  citizen  is  as  much  deserv- 
ing of  the  care  of  the  government  as  another,  and  that  each  would 
have  an  equal  claim  to  any  favor  which  the  government  might  confer. 
One  of  the  prime  maxims  of  our  free  institutions:  "Equal  rights  to  all 
and  exclusive  privileges  to  none." 

Now  this  matter  necessarily  involves  the  right  and  power  of  taxa- 
tion; and  in  the  matter  of  taxation  the  Courts  of  the  country  have 
again  and  again  decided  that  no  tax  can  be  legallj'  imposed  upon  the 
citizen  except  for  a  public  purpose.  The  .Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States   in   the   case   of   the  Loan    Association    against    Topeka,    20th 


3IO  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

Wallace  Reports  p.  662  et  seq.,  has  gone  so  far  as  to  declare  that  the 
right  of  a  citizen  to  hold  his  property  exempt  from  all  taxation  except 
such  as  may  be  levied  for  a  public  purpose  to  be  "in  every  free  govern- 
ment, beyond  the  control  of  the  State."  *  *  *  They  say:  "To  lay  with 
one  hand  the  power  of  the  Government  on  the  property  of  the  citizen, 
and  with  the  other  to  bestow  it  upon  favored  individuals  to  aid  private 
enterprises  and  build  up  private  fortunes,  is  none  the  less  a  robbery 
because  it  is  done  under  the  form  of  laws,  and  is  called  taxation.  This 
is  not  legislation — it  is  a  decree  under  legislative  form."  *  *  * 
"  We  have  established,  we  think,  beyond  cavil,  that  there  can  be  no 
lawful  tax  when  it  is  not  laid  for  a  public  purpose." 

The  sub-Treasury  bill  provides  for  the  erection  of  warehouses,  not 
for  all  the  countries  or  people  of  the  United  States,  but  only  for  such 
as  have  a  certain  amount  of  surplus  products  for  sale.  They  are  to 
receive  deposits,  not  from  all  who  may  have  them  and  desire  to  borrow 
money  tipon  them,  but  only  from  one  class  of  the  farmers.  The  mer- 
chant, the  manufacturer,  or  the  mechanic,  though  he  may  have  ever 
so  much  of  valuable  articles  on  hand,  cannot  receive  this  favor.  Not 
even  all  farmers  can  participate  in  this  case  of  the  Government,  but 
only  those  who  grow  corn,  wheat,  oats,  cotton  and  tobacco.  Those 
who  have  lumber,  iron  ore,  pig  iron,  rice,  peanuts,  rosin  and  turpen- 
tine, hay,  potatoes,  butter  and  cheese,  bacon,  lard,  beef,  mica,  cotton 
seed  oil  or  what  not — none  of  these  are  permitted  to  have  their  "  gen- 
eral welfare"  provided  for  at  public  expense.  Not  one  of  them  can 
deposit  his  products  in  the  public  warehouse  under  this  bill,  or  borrow 
a  single  dollar  !  Now  apply  our  great  maxim  "  equal  rights  to  all  and 
exclusive  privileges  to  none,"  and  recall  the  severe  language  of  the 
Supreme  Court  in  the  case  last  cited,  and  any  man  can  see  that  it  is 
treating  unequally  citizens  of  equal  merit,  but  that  it  would  be  as  the 
court  says,  "robbery  under  the  forms  of  law."  These  warehouses 
would  have  to  be  built  by  taxation  ;  the  money  lent  to  the  "  favored 
individuals  "  would  be  the  proceeds  of  taxation  also,  and  this  taxation 
would  be  laying  "  with  one  hand  the  power  of  the  government  on  the 
property  of  the  citizen,  and  with  the  other,  bestowing  it  upon  favored 
individuals  to  aid  private  enterprises  and  build  up  private  fortunes." 

Under  the  law,  the  citizen  thus  taxed  could  not  himself  possibly 
be  benefitted  or  permitted  to  participate  in  the  government's  bene- 
faction. 

If  it  be  said  that  thus  advancing  the  fortunes  of  a  certain  portion 
of  the  farming  element  would  have  a  tendency  to  benefit  the  public  at 
large,  the  same  court  in  the  same  case  furnishes  the  answer.  It  was 
considering  the  legality  of  certain  bonds  which  had  been  used  by  a 
municipal  corporation  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  establishment 
of  manufactures  in  the  town,  and  the  court  used  the  following  words: 
"  If  it  be  said  that  a  benefit  results  to  the  local  public  of  a  town  by 
establishing  manufactures,  the  same  may  be  said  of  any  other  business 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  31I 

or  pursuit  which  employs  cajDital  or  labor.  The  merchant,  the  mechanic, 
the  inn  keeper,  the  banker,  the  builder,  the  steamboat  owner,  are 
equally  promoters  of  the  public  good  and  equally  deserving  the  aid  of 
the  citizens  by  forced  contributous. ' '  So  even  if  the  power  of  Congress 
to  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  extended  to 
caring  for  individual  citizens  under  these  well  known  decisions  the 
proposed  measure  could  not  stand  in  the  courts. 

Indeed  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  but  that  our  courts 
would  hold  first,  that  there  is  no  power  granted  to  Congress  by  the 
constitution  for  such  a  purpose,  and  that  it  was  class  legislation  and 
that  Congress  had  no  power  to  levy  taxation  upon  the  masses  for  the 
exclusive  benefit  of  the  few. 

The  assertion  is  made  that  the  government  establishes  ware- 
houses for  the  benefit  of  distillers,  and  lends  money  to  the  banks,  and 
the  question  is  asked,  why  not  do  so  for  the  farmers  ?  The  answer  is, 
the  government  does  not  build  warehouses  for  the  distillers.  The 
distillers  are  required  by  Section  3172  of  the  revised  statutes  to  erect 
their  warehouses  at  their  own  expense.  This  is  for  their  accommoda- 
tion. The  tax  on  the  spirits  is  due  immediately  that  the  spirits  are 
made,  but  inasmuch  as  the  raw  spirits  are  not  saleable,  the  govern- 
ment permits  the  distiller  to  deposit  his  product  in  a  warehouse,  built 
by  himself  and  kept  under  government  control,  until  the  spirits 
become  saleable,  and  it  waits  for  the  taxes  in  the  meantime. 

Nor  does  the  government  lend  money  to  the  National  Banks.  On 
the  contrary,  whilst  for  the  sake  of  uniformity  and  to  prevent  counter- 
feiting it  engraves  and  prints  all  their  notes,  it  taxes  them  upon  their 
circulation  one  per  cent,  to  cover  tliis  expense.  It  has  sometimes  been 
claimed  that  this  one  per  cent,  is  interest  on  money  lent;  but  Mr. 
Ashton,  who  is  a  leading  AUianceman  in  North  Carolina,  after  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  subject,  has  stated  in  the  columns  of  the 
News  and  Observer  that  it  is  not  interest;  as  a  matter  of  fact  what  the 
government  provides  for  the  banks  is  not  money,  but  unsigned  bank 
notes,  of  no  value  when  so  handed  to  the  banks  at  all.  It  is  true  that 
the  government  allows  its  collecting  officers,  for  convenience  and 
safety,  to  deposit  money  with  the  National  Banks  (if  that  can  be  called 
a  loan)  but  only  after  the  depository  banks  have  deposited  with  the 
government  a  certain  amount  of  United  States  bonds  as  security.  The 
government  does  not  lend  money  to  the  banks  as  claimed. 

It  is  said  also  that  the  Government  receives  deposits  of  silver  bul- 
lion, and  issues  its  notes  therefor,  and  the  question  is  again  asked  why 
cannot  the  Government  receive  deposits  of  agricultural  products  and 
issue  its  notes  therefor  ?  The  answer  is  plain.  Congress  does  not 
receive  deposits  of  silver  ;  but  it  buys  silver.  Silver  is  a  money  metal, 
and  Congress  has  the  exclusive  power,  and  is  charged  with  the  hio-h 
duty  of  coining  money.  Silver  and  gold  being  money  metals  stand  on 
a  difiEerent  footing  from  any  other  articles  or  commodities. 


3T2  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

Viewed  in  every  possible  light  it  seems  that  such  a  bill  as  the 
proposed  sub-Treasury  bill  would  be  flagrantly  unconstitutional  and 
violative  not  only  of  the  solemn  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but 
of  all  the  traditions  of  our  wisest  men  and  our  best  Democratic 
theories. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  then  that  many  conscientious  public 
men  and  representatives  find  a  difl&culty  in  supporting  it. 

Anxious  as  they  naturally  would  be  to  go  forward  with  the  people, 
they  have  been  compelled  by  their  understanding  to  stop  on  the 
threshold  of  this  measure. 

No  one  can  doubt  that  they  are  sincerely  desirous  of  serving  their 
country  and  their  constituents.  No  one  can  doubt  that  feeling  and  ^^ 
being  witness  themselves  to  the  wrongs  of  the  agricultural  classes, 
their  hearts  burn  with  a  desire  and  a  purpose  to  do  all  thej'  may  do  to 
bring  relief.  When  these  things  are  considered,  and  when  in  all  sin- 
cerity and  truth,  the  Alliance  realizes  that  this  obstacle  of  unconstitu- 
tionality stands  in  the  way  of  the  success  of  this  particular  measure, 
will  it  not  be  deemed  unfortunate  for  so  noble  a  cause  to  be  so  ob- 
structed ?     Let  not  the  farmers  handicap  themselves  in  this  way. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  313 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH. 

Excessive  Labor— Loss  of  Eye— Goes  Abroad— Visits  England, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  France,  Germany,  Egypt— Gets  Homesick- 
Returns  Not  Improved — Goes  to  Florida — Has  Bad  Spells — Lives 
Just  Two  Weeks  After  Return— Last  Illness— Cheerful,  Jocular  at 
Times— Reads  Bible— Talks  of  Old  Friends  and  of  His  Absent 
Sons— Solicitude  for  His  Orphan  Grand-children— Preparing  to 
Build  Them  a  Cottage — Grateful  for  Attention — Thanks  to  Son 
and  Servants — Becomes  Unconscious  From  Apoplexy — Slow  and 
Painless  Death— The  Funeral  in  the  Senate— Trip  to  Raleigh— 
Thence  to  Asheville— Scenes  on  the  Way — Anxious  Throngs  at  the 
Stations  in  North  Carolina— The  Funeral  at  Asheville— The  Pro- 
cession and  Burial — Public  Memorial  Meetings  Everywhere — 
Notably  in  Charlotte— Speeches— Resolutions— Tributes  in  Prose 
and  Poetry. 

¥ANCE'S  labors  seemed  to  culminate  in  1890.  During 
that  year  lie  prepared  and  delivered  more  speeches 
in  the  Senate  and  elsewhere  than  in  any  other  year  of  his 
life.  Although  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  mental  and  physical 
energies,  he  was  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  and  that 
fact  should  have  admonished  him  of  the  importance  of 
taking  care  of  his  health  and  strength. 

His  labor  and  toil  in  the  committee  room,  at  his  desk 
and  elsewhere  were  arduous  and  unremitting,  extending 
often  from  early  in  the  day  well  into  the  night.  It  was  a 
fatal  mistake.  His  nervous  system  was  over-worked.  The 
muscles  of  his  face  and  eyes,  which  had  sustained  a  shock 
just  after  the  war,  again  became  affected,  probably  the 
immediate  result  of  a  fall  from  a  wagoh  at  Black  Mountain 
shortly  before.  His  suffering  was  so  great  and  the  symptoms 
so  alarming,  that  his  physicians  advised  the  prompt  removal 
of  one  of  his  eyes  to  save  the  other,  and  avert  total  blind- 
ness.    This  operation  was  performed   early   in  1891,  and 


314  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

soon  thereafter  he  made  a  trip  abroad,  in  the  hope  that  the 
change  would  bring  him  health  and  vigor  again.  He 
visited  England,  Scotland,  Ireland  and  then  France,  Italy, 
and  Germany,  stopping  at  the  principal  cities.  He  afterwards 
went  to  Egypt.  He  brought  home  several  ears  of  Egyptian 
corn  and  tried  to  raise  from  them  in  Buncombe,  but  did  not 
succeed  very  well.  He  told  his  son  on  his  return  home 
that  he  was  home-sick  while  abroad,  and  that  the  trip  had 
made  him  a  better  x^merican. 

His  health  continuing  to  decline  after  his  return,  he 
went  in  January,  1894,  to  Florida,  visiting  Tampa,  Jackson- 
ville, St.  Augustine  and  Suwannee  Springs.  He  had  some 
bad  attacks  while  in  Florida,  and  was  not  much,  if  at  all, 
benefitted  by  the  trip.  He  lived  just  two  weeks  after  return- 
ing to  Washington.  Although  a  great  sufferer  in  his  last 
illness,  he  seldom  lost  his  cheerfulness  or  good  humor.  His 
son,  Charles  N.  Vance,  writes: 

He  talked  about  old  friends,  some  who  liad  long  ago  passed  away, 
and  others  he  had  not  seen  for  years.  His  mind  seemed  continually  to 
revert  to  old  times  and  old  friends.  His  habit  of  jesting  continued  to 
the  last;  being  asked  by  a  friend  if  he  suffered  much  from  sea-sickness 
while  on  the  ocean,  he  answered:  "I  threw  up  everything  except  my 
seat  in  the  Senate."  He  took  great  interest  in  current  events,  and 
especially  in  the  welfare  of  the  Democratic  party.  He  feared  defeat 
was  coming,  but  had  an  abiding  faith  in  its  immortality,  and  was  con- 
fident it  would  finally  triumph  over  all  opposition.  He  kept  his  Bible 
by  his  side  and  read  it  a  great  deal.  He  talked  also  of  religious  matters, 
and  was  anxious  about  his  church  membership,  which  he  caused  to  be 
removed  from  a  small  church  in  Raleigh  which  my  mother  and  himself 
had  joined,  and  which  had  been  disbanded,  to  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Charlotte.  He  was  extremely  grateful  for  attention,  often 
saying  to  me  as  I  was  by  his  side  day  and  night,  "Thanks,  mj^  faithful 
boy."  He  also  just  before  he  died  very  feelingly  expressed  to  his 
faithful  serving  man,  Thomas,  his  sincere  gratitude  and  thanks  for  his 
great  kindness  in  serving  and  waiting  upon  him   during  his  sickness. 

During  his  last  illness  he  talked  a  great  deal  of  Thom  and  Zeb, 
his  sons  who  were  in  the  West,  and  of  his  two  little  grand-daughters, 
Espy  and  Ruth,  motherless  daughters  of  his  deceased  son,  David,  and 
was  having  prepared  plans  for  a  cottage  he  intended  building  for  these 
little  orphan  grand-children  on  a  place  he  owned  near  Black  Mountain, 
in  Buncombe  countv. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  3^5 


The  night  of  Friday,  April  13,  the  one  just  previous  to  his  death, 
was  an  unu^suallv  comfortable  one  for  him.      He  rested  well  nearly  all 
the  night  and  ate  his  light  breakfast  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  with 
relish.     I  remained  with  him  during  the  night  and  left  him  about  S 
o'clock  Saturday  morning,  and  went  to  the  committee  room  at  the 
Capitol,  stopping  on  the  way  at  Dr.  Johnson's  office  to  tell  him  of  the 
restful  night  his  patient  had  spent.     About  half- past  ten  or  eleven 
o'clock  one  of  the  Senate  barbers  who  had  gone  to  the  house  to  shave 
father  came  into  the  committee  room  and  told  me  father  had  sent  for 
me  to  come  to  him  at  once.     I  immediately  started,  and  on  reaching 
his  bedside  found  he  had  suffered  a  stroke  of  apoplexy.     He  was  con- 
scious,  however,  when  I  got  there,  and  on  my  entering  the  room,  he 
opened  his  eyes,  raised  his  hand,  and  pointing  to  a  chair  by  the  head  of 
his  bed  said:  "Charley,  stay  here,  stay  here."     These  were   the  last 
words  he  ever  uttered.      I  sat  by  him  and  took  his  hand,  telling  him  I 
would  stay.     His  eves  closed  and  he  became  unconscious  and  never 
rallied.     He  died  about  ten  o'clock  that  night.     At  the  time  of  his 
death  the  house  was  full  of  friends,  including  Senator  Ransom  and 
most  of  the  North  Carolina  Congressional  delegation  and  many  others. 
In  his  room  and  the  one  adjoining,  were  his   wife,   myself   and   wife. 
Dr.    Sterling     Ruffin,   a   former    North    Carolinian,     to     whom    the 
Senator   was  much  attached,  Dr.  W.  W.  Johnson.  Judge  W.  A.  Hoke, 
Hon.  Hoke  Smith,   Secretary  Interior;  T.  J.  Allison,   of  Statesville, 
N.  C. ,  and  several  others.    Rev.  Dr.  Pitzer,  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  Washington,  was  also  present.     The  final  end  was  peaceful 
and  apparently  devoid  of  suffering. 

The  funeral  ceremonies  took  place  in  the  Senate  cham- 
ber on  Monday,  i6th,  at  4  o'clock.  They  were  exceeding- 
ly impressive.  At  3  o'clock  the  members  of  the  Senate  and 
House  appointed  to  attend  the  funeral  reached  the  Vance 
residence  on  INIassachusetts  x\venue  and  a  few  minutes 
afterwards  the  casket  was  placed  in  the  hearse  and  taken  to 
the  Capitol  under  escort.  Eight  capital  policemen  under  a 
lieutenant  acted  as  body  bearers. 

A  delegation  from  Raleigh  called  on  Mrs.  Vance  to 
request  that  the  Senator's  remains  be  interred  in  that  city, 
but  Mrs.  Vance  decided  not  to  change  her  original  plan  to 
have  the  burial  at  Asheville  where  Senator  Vance  some 
time  before  had  selected  a  site  for  his  grave. 

When  the  Senate  reassembled  at  3:30  the  galleries  were 
packed    with    eager   spectators.       Large  leather,   crimson 


3l6  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

colored  upholstered  arm  chairs  were  in  waiting  for  the 
family  of  the  dead  Senator,  to  the  left  of  the  Vice  President, 
and  for  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  his  cabinet 
to  the  right.  On  the  secretary's  desk  was  an  immense 
floral  piece  representing  the  broken  trunk  of  an  Ilex  tree, 
a  North  Carolina  growth,  around  which  roses  and  other 
flowers  were  entwined.  Along  the  walls  at  close  intervals 
were  ranged  potted  plants  of  palms  and  evergreens  with 
two  tall  North  Carolina  pines  on  each  side  of  the  Presi- 
dent's chair. 

At  3:50  the  casket  containing  the  remains  of  the  dead 
Senator  was  borne  into  the  chamber  by  a  squad  of  uniformed 
capitol  police,  and  placed  on  a  bier  in  the  area.  It  was 
preceded  by  the  commitee  of  arrangements  of  the  two 
houses,  the  members  of  which  wore  white  scarfs  and  was 
accompanied  by  the  honorary  pall-bearers,  wearing  black 
scarfs.  The  top  of  tlie  casket  was  covered  with  a  profusion 
of  roses  and  lillies.  Then,  immediately  afterwards,  the 
deputy  sergeant-at-arms,  Mr.  Layton,  announced  the  arrival 
at  the  main  entrance  of  the  chamber  of  the  Speaker  and 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  Vice  Presi- 
dent and  Senators  stood  up  and  remained  standing  while 
the  members  of  the  House  were  seeking  their  seats — the 
Speaker  taking  his  seat  beside  the  Vice  President,  at  his 
right  hand  and  the  members  theirs  on  the  Democratic  side 
of  the  chamber  which  had  been  entirely  vacated  by  Sena- 
tors. Next  came  and  were  received  with  like  honors  the 
Chief  Justice  and  Associate  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  who  took  chairs  in  the  second  row 
on  the  Democratic  side  leaving  the  chairs  on  the  front  row 
to  be  occupied  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and 
the  members  of  his  cabinet.  Then  "the  ambassador  of 
England  to  the  United  States "  was  announced  and  all 
present  stood  up  while  Sir  Julian  Pauncefote  was  conducted 
to  his  place. 

The  President  of   the  United   States   took  his  seat  in  a 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  317 

morocco  covered  arm-chair  at  the  head  of  the  line  of  chairs 
in  the  front  row.  Next  to  him  sat  Secretary  Gresham,  of 
the  State  Department,  and  then  came  Secretaries  Carlisle, 
Herbert,  Smith,  Morton,  Postmaster  General  Bissell,  and 
Attorney  General  Olney.  iVt  the  end  of  the  room  Sir  Julian 
Panncefote  sat,  and  near  him  Bishop  Keane,  of  the  Catholic 
University. 

The  religious  observances  were  begun  with  prayer  and 
the  reading  of  scriptural  selections  by  Rev.  Dr.  Moses 
Hoge,  of  Richmond,  Va.  Then  Dr.  Hoge  delivered  an 
eloquent  and  touching  funeral  address. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Chaplain  Milburn, 
and  then  the  coffin,  with  the  remains  of  the  dead  Senator, 
was  borne  out  by  the  capitol  police,  attended  by  the  hon- 
orary pall-bearers  and  the  committee  of  the  two  houses. 
The  invited  guests  left  the  chamber  in  the  inverse  order 
of  their  arrival.  The  funeral  procession  was  formed  in 
the  eastern  plaza  of  the  capitol  and  moved  to  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  station,  from  which  the  train  left  for  Ral- 
eigh at  9  p.  m. 

The  special  funeral  train  bearing  the  remains  of  the  dis- 
tinguished Senator,  after  a  full  night's  travel,  arrived  at 
Raleigh  at  9:30  Tuesday  morning  over  the  Richmond  & 
Danville  Railroad.  Thousands  of  his  old  comrades  and 
fellow  citizens  received  all  that  was  left  of  the  most  popu- 
lar man  the  State  has  probably  ever  produced.  The  train 
reached  Danville  at  early  dawn  and  hundreds  were  out  to 
demonstrate  their  affection  for  the  sister  State.  At  Greens- 
boro and  other  points  along  the  route  immense  crowds 
could  hardly  be  pressed  aside  from  the  car  which  con- 
tained the  remains.  Before  Durham  was  reached  the  toll- 
ing of  bells  from  the  great  Durham  Tobacco  Works  and 
the  appearance  of  half-masted  flags  bore  evidence  of  her 
grief,  while  an  anxious  multitude  of  old  veterans  pressed 
in  to  see  their  "Zeb,"  and  it  was  with  difficulty  they  were 
forced  from  the  cars. 


3l8  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

The  Governor's  Guard  was  drawn  np  on  the  south  side 
the  station  at  Raleigh  and  presented  arms  as  the  casket 
was  placed  in  the  hearse.  The  casket  was  covered  with 
black  cloth  in  the  most  elaborate  design,  and  borne  by  eight 
colored  men.  The  hearse  was  drawn  by  four  black  horses, 
with  black  trappings.  A  procession  was  formed  and  the 
march  to  the  capitol  v/as  begun.  The  procession  moved 
slowly  in  the  following  order:  Police  officers,  the  Gov- 
ernor's Guard,  the  hearse,  the  United  States  escort,  the 
State  escort.  State  officers.  Supreme  Court  and  Superior 
Court  judges,  the  mayor  and  aldermen,  citizens  on  foot  and 
in  carriages,  the  young  lady  pupils  of  St.  Mary's  School. 
]\Iany  places  of  business  were  closed  and  there  was  a  most 
respectful  silence  on  the  streets.  During  the  passage  of 
the  procession  the  city  bell  was  tolled.  The  procession 
made  its  way  to  the  western  portal  of  the  capitol,  and  there, 
while  the  military  again  presented  arms,  the  body  was 
borne  into  the  building.  The  casket  was  placed  upon  the 
catafalque  and  at  10:20  was  opened,  so  that  the  familiar 
face  of  the  dead  Senator  was  exposed  to  view.  The  ex- 
pression was  wonderfully  life-like,  the  embalmer  having 
done  admirable  work.  The  casket  rested  upon  a  catafalque 
of  pyramidal  form,  covered  with  pine  leaves  and  those  of 
the  magnolia  with  native  wild  flowers  from  Vance's  own 
beloved  Carolina  woods.  At  the  foot  of  the  casket  were 
two  young  pine  trees.  It  was  covered  with  flowers.  Around 
in  the  rotunda  were  palms  and  other  evergreen  plants. 

The  funeral  cortege  moved  back  to  the  train  at  4  o'clock 
and  at  4:30  p.  m.  it  left  for  Asheville.  A  stop  of  half  an  hour 
was  made  at  Durham  and  two  hours  at  Greensboro.  Thous- 
ands of  people  passed  through  the  car  and  viewed  the 
remains  at  these  places. 

The  crowds  that  thronged  the  stations  along  the  way  to 
Asheville  delayed  the  train  by  their  urgent  demands  to  see, 
at  least  the  casket,  and  they  filled  the  funeral  car  with 
magnificent   floral    offering.     Each    halt    added    beautiful 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  319 

flowers  marked,  "  From  the  Ladies  to  our  Zeb,"  and  when 
Asheville  was  finally  reached,  and  the  funeral  car  was 
opened  for  the  last  time,  it  required  the  aid  of  a  company 
of  militia  to  remove  the  tributes.  The  Asheville  Light 
Infantry  escorted  the  remains  from  the  train  to  the  church 
and  mounted  guard  over  them  while  the  reverent  crowd 
passed  to  take  a  last  look  at  the  beloved,  familiar  face.  The 
scene  was  especially  touching  when  the  Confederate  vet- 
erans took  leave  of  their  old  commander.  After  these  came 
several  of  the  Senator's  old  slaves. 

The  funeral  escort  from  Washington  consisted  of  Sena- 
tors Ransom,  George,  Gray,  Blackburn,  Dubois  and  Chandler, 
and  Representatives  Henderson,  Crawford  and  Alexander, 
of  North  Carolina;  Black,  of  Illinois;  Brookshire,  of  Indiana; 
Strong,  of  Ohio,  and  Daniels,  of  New  York,  and  Gen.  W.  R. 
Cox,  Secretary  of  the  Senate.  These  were  joined  at  Raleigh 
by  Governor  Elias  Carr,  Secretary  of  State  Octavius  Coke, 
Treasurer  S.  ]\IcD,  Tate,  Attorney-General  F.  L  Osborne, 
Auditor  R.  M.  Furman,  Railroad  Commissioner  J.  W.  Wil- 
son, Judge  Avery,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  ex-Governor 
Jarvis,  R.  H.  Battle,  Thos.  S.  Kenan,  Josephus  Daniels, 
E.  J.  Hale,  and  many  others.  In  Mrs.  Vance's  party  were 
Mrs.  Goodloe,  of  Kentucky;  Miss  Hoke,  of  Lincolnton, 
N.  C. ;  ]\Irs.  Allison  and  mother,  of  Statesville,  and  Mrs. 
Chas.  N.  Vance. 

The  pall  bearers  at  Asheville  were  Judge  Jas.  H.  Merri- 
mon,  W.  H.  Penland,  Jas.  L.  McKee,  G.  S.  Powell,  J.  H. 
McDowell,  W.  H.  Malone,  Jas.  E.  Rankin,  T.  S.  Johnston 
and  J.  B.  Brevard. 

The  procession  to  the  cemetery  was  formed  in  the  -fol- 
lowing order:  Mounted  police,  Asheville  Light  Infantry, 
Bingham  Cadets,  pall-bearers  in  carriages,  special  escort  of 
Rough  and  Ready  Guards  surrounding  the  hearse,  family 
of  the  deceased,  congressional  committees,  Governor  and 
staff,  city  and  county  officers.  Masonic  order.  Survivors' 
Association,   Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  Odd  Fellows, 


320  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

Knights  of  Pythias,  Royal  Arcanum  and  Knights  of  Honor. 
These  were  followed  by  different  labor  organizations  and 
the  entire  city  fire  department.  The  procession,  both  civic 
and  military,  numbered  about  10,000,  while  thousands 
looked  on  as  spectators.  The  streets  through  which  the 
procession  passed  were  draped  in  mourning,  and  from  the 
front  of  the  county  court  house  hung  a  large  portrait  of  the 
Senator,  while  stretching  from  the  belfry  on  both  sides  to 
the  ground  were  cords  from  which  waved  the  marine  sig- 
nals which  spelled  "We  Mourn  for  Zebulon  Vance." 

The  ceremony  at  the  grave  was  exceedingly  solemn  and 
was  conducted  by  Rev.  Dr.  Campbell,  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian church,  after  which  the  floral  offerings  v/ere  grace- 
fully placed,  and  thus  North  Carolina  buried  a  son  whose 
place  may  be  partly  filled  in  the  council  halls  of  the  nation, 
but  never  in  the  hearts  of  her  people. 

But  this  was  not  all  of  Vance's  funeral,  nor  the  greater 
part.  The  people  of  North  Carolina  were  sorely  bereaved. 
Their  grief  was  poignant.  Their  idol  had  been  broken 
in  pieces  and  their  vases  shattered.  Like  Rachel  weeping 
for  her  children,  they  refused  to  be  comforted.  In  all 
parts  of  the  State  the  people  met  together  in  towns  and 
villages  to  express  their  sorrow  and  testify  of  their  love 
and  affection.  The  high  and  the  low,  the  humble  and  the 
exalted  mingled  their  tears  upon  the  common  altar  of 
grief.  No  North  Carolinian  ever  had  such  a  funeral  and 
it  is  doubtful  if  any  citizen  of  any  State,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Jefferson  Davis,  ever  had  a  like  funeral — such 
a  universal  going  forth  of  the  people  to  hold  memorial 
services  and  by  resolutions  and  speeches  in  their  towns,  at 
their  court  houses  and  places  of  worship,  to  testify  their 
deep  sense  of  the  great  bereavement  which  had  fallen  upon 
them.  An  entire  volume  would  be  required  to  describe 
these  meetings,  with  the  speeches  made  and  resolutions 
passed,  and  yet  it  would  all  be  very  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive as  showing  how  a  great  and  good  man,  by  his  devotion 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  321 

and  love  for  his  people,  may  in  turn   canse  their  love  and 
affection  to  be  lavished  npon  him. 

On  the  day  before  the  funeral  at  Asheville  a  large  crowd 
assembled  in  the  auditorium  in  Charlotte,  several  thousand 
of  all  ages,  all  classes  and  conditions.  The  proceedings  of 
this  meeting  are  described  in  the  Charlotte  Observer  as 
follows  : 

Beautiful  and  touching  speeches  were  made  but  the  gem  of 
all  was  that  of  the  long  time  law  partner  of  the  dead  Senator.  His 
voice  was  full  of  tears,  his  whole  being  quivering  with  sincere  and 
ill-suppressed  emotion,  and  it  almost  seemed  that  drops  of  blood  from 
his  lacerated  heart  lingered  about  the  words  which  fell  from  his  lips. 
He  said:  "  If  I  should  say  this  bereavement  came  as  a  personal  one  to 
me  I  should  only  say  what  was  true  of  every  man,  woman  and  child 
in  the  State,  for  the  Governor  was  loved  by  all.  No  man  before  him 
was  ever  so  universally  loved.  His  image  seemed  to  be  engraved  upon 
the  hearts  of  all  his  people.  He  was  especially  the  friend  of  the  com- 
mon people,  even  little  children  instinctively  knew  he  was  their 
friend."  The  speaker  told  of  two  country  men,  who  during  the  late 
campaign  inquired  of  him  whether  Vance  was  coming  to  Charlotte. 
No,  was  the  reply;  he  is  not  strong  enough  to  speak.  "  Oh,  we  don't 
want  him  to  speak.  We  just  v/ant  to  see  him  one  more  time,"  said 
one.  "  I  would  ride  ten  miles  through  the  rain  the  v/orst  day  in  the 
winter  just  to  get  to  see  the  side  of  his  face,"  said  the  other. 

"  No  one  thoroughly  knew  him,"  continued  the  speaker.  "I  did 
not.  He  was  not  built  to  the  measure  of  other  men.  He  was  a  great 
reader  and  student  of  history.  He  loved  old  books  and  ancient  stories 
and  characters.  He  was  fond  of  taking  Cyrus,  Alexander,  Caesar, 
Hannibal,  and  getting  the  gist  of  their  campaigns,  comparing  them 
with  similar  campaigns  of  modern  times.  He  even  found  time  to  make 
detours  into  astronomy  and  geology.  He  had  many  adversaries  ;  he 
was  in  many  battles  and  conflicts,  but  I  don't  think  he  had  an  enemy 
when  he  died.  In  his  great  big  heart  there  was  no  place  for  enmity. 
His  life  was  pure,  and  no  scandal  was  ever  attached  to  his  name. 
They  will  lay  him  to  rest  among  the  mountains  where  his  boyhood  and 
early  life  were  spent,  and  from  that  lofty  couch  he  will  be  aiSong  the 
very  first  to  catch  the  dawn  of  the  eternal  day." 

This  surpassingly  eloquent  peroration  was  greeted  with  an  unsup- 
pressed  and  uncontrollable  outburst  of  applause,  which,  yet  at  the  same 
time  seemed  somehow  to  be  muffled  and  in  mourning. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Preston,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church,  said 
he  thought  one  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about  this  remarkable 
man,  and  which  made  most  for  his  remarkable  career,  was  the  train- 
ing of  his  mother.     She  had  laid  the  foundation  for  his  character  and 

22 


322  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

reputation  to  rest  upon.  He  pictured  the  Governor  in  his  old  pew  in 
the  First  Presbyterian  church  in  former  daj-s;  he  was  not  a  communi- 
cant then,  but  had  the  knowledge  of  his  mother's  training  as  a  holy 
inspiration,  but  it  was  not  till  after  the  death  of  his  wife  that  he  con- 
nected himself  with  any  church;  that  most  appalling  family  affliction, 
the  greatest  calamity  that  can  befall  any  man,  was  the  chart  and  com- 
pass which  guided  him  to  port.  Governor  Vance  was  then  found,  not 
uniting  with  some  strong  church,  but  with  a  little  struggling  church 
in  Raleigh,  and  recentl}%  when  occasion  came  to  remove  his  member- 
ship, he  placed  it  in  the  old  church  in  Charlotte,  so  fragrant  to  him, 
doubtless,  with  sweet  associations. 

Perhaps  there  was  never  before  a  memorial  meeting  held  in  honor 
of  a  great  Gentile  prince  at  which  an  Israelite  stood  up  and  paid  such  a 
tribute  as  did  Mr.  Samuel  Wittkowsky  to  the  memory  of  Zebulon  B. 
Vance.  He  spoke  of  how  Vance  had  won  the  hearts  of  the  Hebrews  of 
this  State  and  country  by  the  full  measure  of  justice  he  accorded  them 
in  his  famous  lecture  on  the  "Scattered  Nation,"  and  he  said  no 
Israelite  ever  voted  against  Vance.  Such  a  blow  has  fallen  upon  our 
State  and  country  that  it  will  take  long  years  to  overcome  it.  In  com- 
mon with  the  million  and  a  half  of  North  Carolina's  sons  and  daughters 
I  wish  to  give  expression  not  only  to  mj'  feelings  personally  on  this 
melanchoW  event,  but  I  speak  also  for  my  race  in  the  State  and 
throughout  the  Union.  The  deceased  has  ever  by  his  words  and  acts 
demonstrated  that  he  was  their  friend.  And  now,  fellow-citi- 
zens, let  us  perpetuate  his  memory  and  teach  our  children 
to  emulate  his  example,  and  let  us  instruct  our  children  to 
instruct  their  children  and  their  children's  children  to  revere  his 
memory,  and  that  wherever  their  lot  may  be  cast  and  they  are  asked 
where  they  came  from,  to  point  with  pride  to  the  State  which  gave 
birth  to  Zebulon  B.  Vance. 

The  next  speaker  was  Col.  Hamilton  C.  Jones,  and  his  was 
a  very  beautiful  tribute,  indeed,  and  deserves  a  full  report 
which  a  lack  of  time  forbids.  He  related  among  other  things 
that  after  Vance  had  been  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  while 
Governor  of  the  State,  and  was  about  leaving  for  Washington,  I  saw 
him  and  said  this  honor  must  be  very  pleasing  and  gratifying  to  you, 
and  he  replied  as  God  is  my  judge,  be  assured  I  would  rather  serve  the 
people  as  Governor  than  to  be  the  foremost  Senator  in  the  United 
States.  Col.  Jones  said  Senator  Vance  was  easily  first  among  all  the 
statesmen  North  Carolina  had  produced  ;  that  he  did  not  understand 
the  art  of  mere  politics.  His  triumphs  came  from  honest  purpose  and 
right  conviction.' 

Rev.  Dr.  Pritchard,  who  followed  Col.  Jones,  said  he  once  thought 
Gaston,  and  again  Badger,  the  greatest  North  Carolinian,  but  now  he 
was  fully  convinced  that  Vance  was  more  than  the  peer  of  either  of 
them,     He  related  that  he  once  told  Vance  he  heard   him   quote  a 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  323 

Scripture  passage  uuwarrantedly  and  inaptly.  The  Senator  acknowl- 
edged that  it  was  true  and  thanked  Dr.  Pritchard  for  the  "merited 
rebuke,"  and  added  that  he  was  taught  in  the  Scripture  by  his  mother 
and  an  aunt,  and  that  a  day  never  passed  without  his  reading  the  Bible 
and  that  he  would  try  to  be  thenceforth  more  careful. 

A  second  iiieniorial  meeting  was  held  at  the  same  place 
the  day  after  the  burial,  the  attendance  being  large  and 
principally  from  the  country.  The  following  account  of  it 
is  from  the  facile  pen  of  Miss  Addie  Williams,  the  talented 
city  editor  of  the  Daily  Observer: 

"Vance,  of,  by  and  for  the  people,"  said  Capt.  Ardrey  yesterday. 

Surely  no  man  was  ever  loved  as  this  one.  Country  and  town 
assembled  yesterday  to  do  honor  to  his  memory. 

The  auditorium  held  between  two  and  three  thousand  people.  An 
audience  composed  of  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  country  and  town 
people.  Just  such  an  assemblage  has  not  been  seen  here  before.  The 
country  people  began  coming  in  early  yesterday  morning.  Every 
township  in  the  county  was  represented.  All  came  with  like  impulse 
and  sentiment — with  fervid  desire  to  pay  tribute  to  "Zeb  Vance,"  the 
people's  idol. 

There  were  on  the  rostrum,  besides  the  singers,  Rev.  Dr.  Preston, 
Major  C.  Dowd,  Capt.  W.  E.  Ardrey,  Major  S.  W.  Reid,  Dr.  J.  B.  Alex- 
ander, Col.  J.  E.  Brown,  Messrs.  J.  M.  Kirkpatrick,  C.  W  Tillett,  J.  P. 
Alexander,  John  Springs  Davidson,  H.  K.  Reid,  and  J.  Hervy  Hen- 
derson. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Henderson,  Capt.  Ardrey  was  called  to  the 
chair.  The  press  representatives  present  Avere  requested  to  act  as 
secretaries.  The  religious  part  of  the  service  was,  by  the  request  of 
the  committee,  conducted  by  Rev.  Dr.  Preston,  who  led  the  vast  audi- 
ence in  a  prayer,  in  which  he  thanked  God  for  the  life  of  "this  great 
and  good  man  whom  we  are  called  together  to  pa}'  tribute  to.  We 
thank  Thee  that  he  died  in  full  communion  with  the  Church.  We 
also  thank  Thee  for  the  sorrows  that  gathered  around  his  life  that 
may  have  influenced  him  in  becoming  a  Christian  ;  for  his  pure  exam- 
ple, and  may  we,  like  him,  be  able  to  ascribe  all  the  power  and  glory 
to  Thy  name.     Amen." 

Dr.  Preston  then  announced  that  Senator  Vance's  favorite  hymn 
would  be  sung.  Said  he:  "We  can  tell  what  a  man  thinks  by  know- 
ing what  he  likes  sung,  for  music  appeals  to  the  soul.  Gov.  Vance 
loved  this  old  hymn  of  the  church,  'Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul,'  and  let 
all  stand  now  and  sing  it,  here  in  this  building  where  he  stood  for  the 
last  time  in  Charlotte  a  j'ear  ago  this  May." 

The  vast  audience,   in   response  to  Dr.   Preston's  suggestion,  rose 


324  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

to  its  feet,  and  such  a  wave  of  melody  went  up  that  the  billows  of 
sound  seemed  overladen.  It  was  the  people's  requiem  over  the  dead 
and  loved  Vance. 

After  the  hymn,  Capt.  W.  E.  Ardrey  addressed  the  audience. 

"We  have  met,"  said  he,  "to  do  honor  to  a  great  man.  This  meet- 
ing was  called  in  honor  of  our  great  vSenator,  Zebulon  B.  Vance.  He 
was  of  the  people,  bj'  the  people  and  for  the  people,  and  he  lives  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  It  is  a  delight  to  honor  this  great  and  glori- 
ous man.  While  North  Carolina  has  its  Gastons,  Grahams  and  others, 
she  can  boast  of  only  one  Zeb  Vance.  He  was  her  great  leader. 
Wherever  he  lead  the  people  followed.  He  had  no  will  of  his  own 
when  her  interests  were  at  stake.  His  bidding  was  from  God  and  his 
country.  He  was  poor  because  he  was  honest.  His  name  will  be 
handed  down  with  that  of  Webster,  Calhoun  and  other  great  men. 
Whoever  his  mantel  falls  on  will  receive  a  pure  and  spotless  one.  We 
thank  God  to-day,  my  friends,  that  he  died  with  clean  hands  and  a  pure 
neart.  Let  us  teach  our  children  to  honor  and  revere  the  name  of 
Zebulon  Baird  Vance." 

Maj.  Dowd,  by  request,  then  read  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  unanimously  adopted: 

"The  death  of  Zebulon  B.  Vance  is  a  national  calamity.  It  is  a 
sore  bereavement  to  the  people  of  his  own  beloved  State  and  brings 
sadness  and  sorrow  into  every  heart.  The  people  of  Mecklenburg 
county,  without  distinction  of  age,  sex  or  condition,  have  assembled 
to  pa}'  tribute  to  the  memory  of  this  illustrious  citizen. 

"Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Senator  Vance  the  government 
and  people  of  the  United  States  have  lost  from  the  counsels  of  the 
nation  a  wise  statesman,  a  devoted  patriot,  a  man  of  eminent  abilities 
and  conspicuous  devotion  to  duty. 

"Resolved,  That  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  in  the  death  of 
this  eminent  man,  are  called  upon  to  mourn  the  loss  of  their  best 
beloved  friend  and  their  most  faithful  and  devoted  public  servant, 
whose  whole  life  was  given  with  singular  fidelity  to  the  interests  of  all 
the  people  of  the  State,  the  high  as  well  as  the  low,  the  poor  as  well  as 
the  rich,  and  the  lowliest,  most  humble,  in  like  manner  with  the  most 
exalted. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  shall  cherish  the  memory  of  this  good  man 
for  his  great  intellectual  gifts,  for  his  glowing  and  warm-hearted  sym- 
pathy and  affection  for  his  people,  for  his  singular  devotion  to  their 
interests  throughout  his  long  and  illustrious  career,  and  for  his  con- 
spicuous public  and  private  virtues,  which  shone  no  less  bright, 
whether  in  the  sunshine  of  peace  and  prosperity  or  in  the  darkness 
and  shadows  of  a  long  and  bloody  civil  war.  His  memory  is  enshrined 
in  the  hearts  of  a  grateful  and  devoted  people,  especially  his  neighbors 
and  countrymen  here  present,  who  knew  him  best  and  loved  him  most, 
and  will  be  cherished  and  preserved  with  affection  and  love  so  long  as 
life  shall  last. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  325 

"  Resolved,  That  the  papers  of  the  city  be  requested  to  publish 
these  resolutions." 

A  second  beautiful  tribute  was  paid  to  Governor  Vance  by  his 
friend  and  former  law  partner,  Major  Dowd.  He  referred  to  his  pre- 
vious talk,  and  said  that  this  occasion  was  one  on  which  the  fullness 
of  the  heart  kept  the  mouth  from  speaking.  Senator  Vance,  he  said, 
might  be  considered  an  easy  siibject  to  eulogize,  but  yet  he  was  not. 
You  could  say  he  was  a  great  Senator,  great  Congressman,  great  lawyer, 
great  soldier,  great  big-hearted  man,  and  yet  the  subject  would  not  be 
exhausted.  There  would  be  required  a  few  more  touches  of  the  brush 
to  bring  out  the  portraiture  of  Zeb  Vance.  He  was  unique;  he  was 
great,  grand,  noble  and  pure.  Say  all  that  could  be  said,  and  you  have 
thebiggest,  best  man  North  Carolina  ever  produced.  [Applause.]  He 
had  all  the  great  qualities  that  go  to  make  up  a  man.  Nature  could 
stand  by  and  say  "this  is  a  man."  Why  did  the  common  people  love 
him  ?  Because  of  that  big  heart  the  great  God  gave  him  to  beat  in 
response  to  his  people  all  over  the  countr3\  [Applause.]  He  never 
asked  whether  this  or  that  is  popular;  he  seemed  to  know  intuitively 
what  was  best  for  his  people.  Who  but  Vance  would  ever  have  thought 
of  having  scythes  and  cotton-cards  brought  over  in  the  vessels  for  the 
people  during  the  war  ?  His  great  power,  besides  his  personal  magne- 
tism, was  that  he  was  honest,  clean  and  pure.  He  never  had  an  enemy. 
That  little  mound  in  Asheville  is  crowned  by  the  good  will  of  his 
adversaries  as  well  as  the  thousands  of  his  friends. 

Maj.  Dowd  recalled  Vance's  and  Settle's  visit  here.  Vance,  he 
said,  knew  that  the  bands  would  be  out,  flags  flying,  escorts  awaitino- 
him,  and  that  Settle  should  not  feel  the  lack  of  such,  sent  to 
Wadsworth's  and  got  four  handsome  black  horses,  had  them  hitched 
to  a  carriage  and  called  for  Settle  himself,  taking  him  to  the  speaking 
.seated  by  his  side. 

Maj.  Dowd  paused  a  minute  before  passing  on  to  the  next  part  of 
his  address.  His  eyes  filled  v.-ith  tears  and  bis  voice  was  soft  and  low 
when  he  said,  "  I  want  to  tell  you  now  of  his  last  hours.  I  attended 
the  funeral  and  had  a  short  talk  with  his  widow.  She  said  her  hus- 
band was  conscious  up  to  a  short  time  before  his  death.  He  knew  he 
was  going  to  die,  but  was  too  considerate  of  her  and  the  children  to 
talk  of  it.  He  told  her  he  only  thought  of  it  enough  to  keep  himself 
right  with  his  God.  The  barber  from  the  capitol  came  to  shave  him 
Saturday  morning,  but  he  was  too  sick  to  be  shaved.  Mrs.  Vance 
noticed  a  look  in  his  eye  that  she  knew  meant  that  the  end  was  near. 
She  told  the  barber  to  go  back  to  the  capitol  and  tell  '  Charlie'  to 
come,  and  turning,  said  to  th'e  Governor,  '  Husband,  what  must  David 
tell  them  at  the  capitol  ? '  '  Just  the  truth,  the  truth,'  he  said.  As  the 
barber  left,  he  drew  Mrs.  Vance's  face  down  to  his  and  kissed  her. 
Shortly  after  the  cook  came  in  to  ask  how  he  was.  Senator  Vance 
looked  at  him  and  said,  '  Thomas,  you  have  been  very  kind  to  me  and 


326  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

I  want  to  thank  you.'  His  ruling  passion  was  strong  in  death.  '  Tell 
them  the  truth,'  he  said,  and  turning  to  that  humble  man  he  thanked 
him  for  kindnesses.  Such  a  funeral  no  man  in  North  Carolina  ever 
had.  He  sleeps  by  the  broad  river,  typical,  in  its  endless  flow,  of 
eternity,  while  lavish  wreaths  from  loving  hearts  cover  his  grave." 

Dr.  J.  B.  Alexander  was  the  next  speaker.  He  paid  a  beautiful 
tribute  to  the  great  Vance.  ''No  man,"  said  he,  "since  the  daj-s  of 
Nehemiah  has  ever  had  such  love  for  his  people  as  Senator  Vance. 
During  reconstruction  all  eyes  were  turned  to  him.  He  was  a  Samson 
in  the  camp.  He  was  a  man  without  a  peer ;  North  Carolina's  noblest 
son.  We  loved  him  because  he  loved  us.  Let  all  bring  garlands  to 
deck  his  grave  and  perpetuate  his  memory." 

Mr.  H.  K.  Reid,  of  Sharon,  was  next  called  on,  and  made  one  of 
the  best  talks  of  the  day.  "The  nation,"  said  he,  "mourns  the  loss 
of  her  purest  statesman,  and  North  Carolina  the  loss  of  her  best 
beloved  son.  This  is  an  unusual  meeting.  Men  of  all  classes  are 
here  to-day  to  do  honor  to  Vance.  It  is  right  that  the  country  people 
be  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  meeting,  to  pay  their  tribute  to  him 
who  in  these  degenerate  days,  while  others  are  proving  treacherous, 
never  betrayed  a  trust  and  never  faltered  in  his  devotion  to  his  peo- 
ple. Our  noble  Senator  fell  in  defense  of  the  rights  of  the  people  he 
loved  so  well,  and  well  may  North  Carolina  weep  over  the  death  of 
him  who  was  her  best  friend  in  the  counsels  of  the  nation." 

Major  S.  W.  Reid,  of  Steel  Creek,  was  next  asked  to  make  some 
remarks.  He  thanked  the  people  of  Charlotte  for  providing  the 
opportunity  of  allowing  the  people  to  express  their  opinions.  "There 
is  no  citizen,  however  humble,"  said  he,  "but  can  pay  their  humble 
tribute  and  say  they  loved  Vance.  Leaving  out  Gladstone,  I  know  of 
no  other  so  great.  As  parents  love  to  recall,  after  the  death  of  a 
child,  the  many  little  things  it  said  or  did,  so  Vance's  people  will  love 
to  tell  of  this  or  that  remark  they  recall."  Here  the  speaker  told  of 
once  being  in  South  Carolina  and  seeing  Senator  Butler.  He  remarked 
to  him,  that  he  was  almost  as  big  a  man  as  Zeb  Vance.  "No,"  said 
Butler,  "Vance  is  a  great  man."  "Nature,'"  continued  Mr.  Reid, 
"seemed  to  have  exerted  herself  to  make  a  grand  man,  as  the  Observer 
said,  he  was  an  'all  round  man.'  He  was  the  father  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  no  father  ever  risked  more  for  his  children  than  did  Vance 
for  his  State.     He  loved  his  God  and  his  people." 

Mr.  John  Springs  Davidson  was  the  next  speaker.  He  paid  an 
enthusiastic  and  loving  tribute  to  Senator  Vance.  "It  is  the  duty  of 
every  citizen  in  the  United  States  to  pay  tribute  to  Senator  Vance," 
said  he.  "If  God  had  spared  his  life  he  would  have  occupied  the 
highest  position  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  [Great  applause].  I  say  to 
the  young  men  of  Met  klenburg  to  take  Zeb  Vance  as  their  model. 
There  may  be  a  Zeb  Vance  in  this  audience.  Emulate  his  example. 
He  was  the  greatest  man  of  this  day  and  of  this  generation." 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  327 

Next  followed  Mr.  J.  W.  Moore,  of  Hopewell,  in  one  of  the  best 
talks  of  the  day.  He  said  that  he  had  often  heard  it  said  that  North 
Carolina  was  the  best  place  to  be  born  in  and  the  best  to  move  from. 
Vance  thought  the  latter  not  true.  Vance  became  prominent  although 
he  did  not  leave  his  native  State.  Experts  could  not  analyze  Vance's 
character.  The  great  question  is  asked,  why  was  it  the  people  loved 
Zeb  Vance  better  than  they  did  any  one  else  ?  It  was  because  he  was 
true  and  honest,  and  loved  them.  He  never  asked,  "  does  it  pay?" 
but  "  is  it  right  ?"  The  North  Carolina  troops  were  better  fed  than 
any  other,  and  all  during  the  war  this  "  War  Governor's  "  first  thought 
was  his  people.  The  names  of  Vance  and  Governor  Sej-mour,  of  New 
York,  will  stand  out  as  the  two  prominent  figures  of  war  days.  He 
had  the  biggest  heart  in  the  world.  At  Salisbury,  when  the  Federal 
soldiers  could  not  be  provided  food  sufficient  to  supply  their  need, 
Vance  fed  them  as  much  as  his  own  soldiers.  Mr.  Moore  advised  the 
college  boys  of  the  State,  when  they  wanted  a  subject  for  their  com- 
positions, to  go  no  more  to  Rome  because  a  greater  than  Caesar  was 
here — in  North  Carolina  history. 

Mr.  J.  P.  Alexander  next  paid  his  tribute  to  Vance.  He  dwelt 
particularly  on  the  war  record  of  the  great  war  Governor.  "Where  is 
the  State,"  said  he,  "that  has  produced  another  Vance,  or  any  one  like 
him  ?  There  was  no  Mason's  and  Dixon's  line  separating  the  goodwill 
of  the  people.  The  North  honored  him  as  well  as  did  the  South.  He 
was  the  greatest  man  America  has  ever  produced." 

Col.  J.  E.  Brown  followed  with  a  sincere  and  beautiful  tribute 
bearing  on  the  remarkable  record  of  Vance  as  a  soldier  and  war 
Governor.  His  passing  down  the  line  was  inspiration  to  his  soldiers 
to  follow  him,  even  into  the  Jaws  of  death.  In  the  legislative  halls  he 
stood  the  peer  of  any  man.  Col.  Brown  attributed  the  strength  of  his 
character  to  the  teachings  derived  from  his  mother  in  early  life,  and 
his  wonderful  familiarity  and  use  of  the  Bible. 

The  gem  of  all  the  talks  was  reserved  for  the  last — that  of  Mr.  C.  W. 
Tillett.  From  the  moment  he  repeated  the  first  sad  words — "Zeb 
Vance  is  dead" — through  every  tear-bedimmed  utterance,  the  people 
sat  enrapt,  and  handkerchief  after  handkerchief  went  faceward  to 
catch  the  falling  tears  : 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !  Few  and  short  are  these  cruel  words  which 
men  with  lips  compressed  and  cheeks  all  blanched  have  whispered  one 
to  another;  and  yet  they  bear  the  message  of  the  greatest  grief  which 
ever  yet  has  filled  the  Old  North  State. 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead!  Ring  out  the  funeral  bells  and  let  their 
mournful  tones  re-echo  in  the  empty  chambers  of  the  hearts  once  filled 
with  gladsome  sounds  of  his  loved  voice. 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !  And  mirth  herself  hath  put  on  mourning  ; 
and  laughter,  child  of  his  most  genial  brain,  hath  hid  her  face  in  tears. 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !     The  fires  of  party  strife  are  quenched  ;  and 


328  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

throbbing  hearts  and  tear-beclouded  63-65  tell  more  than  words  of 
grandest  eloquence  the  angiiish  of  the  people's  minds  and  how  they 
loved  him. 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !  Soldier,  statesman,  patriot,  friend!  In  war 
and  peace,  the  one  of  all  her  sons  to  whom  his  mother  State  looked 
most  for  succor  and  relief;  and  can  it  be  that  in  the  days  to  come, 
when  dreaded  dangers  threaten  all  around,  we  nevermore  can  call  for 
him  before  whose  matchless  powers  in  days  gone  by  our  enemies  have 
quailed  and  fled  ? 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead!  His  was  a  name  3'ou  could  conjure  with, 
and  oftimes  in  the  past,  when  this  loved  Commonwealth  of  ours  has 
been  stirred  to  its  inmost  depths,  and  men  knew  not  which  waj-  to  go 
nor  what  to  say,  the  cry  was  sounded  forth  that  'Vance  is  coming,' 
and  from  the  mountain  fastness  of  the  west  and  the  everglades  of  the 
eastern  plains,  the  people  came  who  never  would  come  forth  to  hear 
another  living  man,  and  gathering  around  in  countless  multitudes, 
they  hung  upon  his  every  word  with  eager  eye  and  listening  ear,  and 
all  he  told  them  they  believed  because  'our  Vance'  had  said  it. 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead!  And  where  shall  come  the  man  to  tell  the  world 
soul-inspiring  storj'  of  his  hero  life?  How,  coming  forth  from  humble 
home,  he  baffled  and  o'ercame  the  fates  that  would  have  crushed 
beneath  their  feet  a  man  of  meaner  mould;  how  serving  faithfully  and 
well  in  every  trust  committed  unto  him,  he  soon  won  first  place  in  the 
hearts  of  all  his  countrymen  and  held  that  place  for  three  score  years 
unto  the  end;  how,  when  his  native  land  was  plunged  in  throes  of 
civil  strife,  he  went  forth  in  the  front  rank  to  defend  and  save  her  and 
fought  with  valor  all  her  foes;  how  called  to  rule  as  chief  executive  in 
times  that  tried  men's  souls,  he  ruled  so  wisely  and  so  well;  how  when 
the  war  was  over  and  the  cause  was  lost — when  down  upon  his  bleed- 
ing, prostrate  country  came  the  horde  of  vampires  from  the  North  to 
suck  the  last  remaining  drops  of  life  blood  from  his  people,  he  rose 
with  power  almost  divine  and  drove  them  back;  and  then  with  gentle 
hand  he  caused  the  wounds  to  heal  and  his  loved  land  to  prosper  once 
again  as  in  the  years  gone  by;  and  how  at  last,  when  after  years  of 
faithful,  honest  toil,  upon  his  noble  form  was  laid  the  ic}^  hand  of 
death,  he  bowed  his  head  in  meek  submission  to  His  will  and  yielded 
up  to  God  his  manly  soul!  Who  can  be  found  to  sing  the  praise  of 
such  a  one,  and  Avho  can  speak  the  anguish  of  the  people's  hearts  at 
his  untimel}-  death  ? 

"  Zel)  Vance  is  dead  !  He  was  the  friend  and  tribune  of  the  people. 
Though  he  rose  to  place  where  he  held  converse  with  the  great  and 
mighty  of  the  earth,  his  sympathetic  heart  was  open  wide  to  all  man- 
kind, and  his  strong  arm  was  first  stretched  forth  to  lift  the  lowliest 
of  the  sons  of  men  that  cried  to  him  for  help,  and  in  the  Nation's 
Senate  halls  his  voice  was  ever  lifted  up  to  plead  the  cause  of  the 
down-trodden  and  oppressed  against  the  favored  classes  and  the 
money  kings. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  329 

"  Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !  And  when  he  died,  a  poor  man  died  ;  for 
though  he  stood  where  oft  there  was  within  his  grasp  the  gains  of 
millions  if  he  would  but  swerve  from  right  and  reach  it,  he  cast  it  all 
aside  with  scorn,  and  dying,  left  his  sons  and  all  the  people  of  his 
land  the  priceless  legacy  of  an  honest  and  untarnished  name. 

"  Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !  And  yet  he  lives  ;  the  influence  of  his  noble 
words  and  honest  life  can  never  die  ;  and  in  the  years  to  come  men 
gathering  round  their  firesides  at  the  evening  hour  shall  tell  their  sons 
of  him  and  how  he  scorned  a  lie  and  scorned  dishonest  gains. 

"Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !  But  he  shall  live  forever  more.  Oh,  blessed 
truth,  which  Mary's  Son,  the  God-man,  taught  when  standing  near 
the  tomb  with  His  all-conquering  foot  upon  the  skull  of  death.  He 
called  forth  Lazarus  unto  life,  and  told  a  listening  world  the  thrilling 
truth  that  whosoever  lived  and  in  His  name  believed  shauld  never  die. 

"  Zeb  Vance  is  dead  !     If  it  be  truth 

'  That  men  may  rise  on  stepping  stones 
Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things,' 

"  Oh,  grander  truth,  that  a  nation  too  may  rise  on  stepping  stones  of 
her  dead  hero  sons  unto  a  higher  life.  And  God  vouchsafe  that  our 
own  State,  while  weeping  o'er  the  grave  of  him,  her  best-loved,  most 
honored  son,  may  yet  be  thereby  lifted  into  a  grander,  nobler  life." 

OUR   VANCE   IS   DEAD. 

Low  lies  our  hero's  head  : — the  muffled  bell, 
In  solemn  tones,  bespeaks  the  funeral  knell  ; 
Its  quaintly  mournful  measures  seem  to  tell 
The  passage  of  a  human  soul  from  mortal  shores, 
^        In  some  weird  craft,  propelled  by  spirit  oars, 
O'er  seas  Eternal,  to  that  unknown  bourn. 
Whither,  hath  journeyed,  every  friend  we  mourn  : 
From  whence,  no  no  human  soul  hath  e'er  returned, 
A  tale  to  tell  of  what  he  may  have  learned. 
And  sad  it  be  that  mourning  friends,  no  more 
On  earth,  may  know  of  those,  who've  gone  before  : 
The  wife,  the  child,  however  much  they  grieve, 
No  message,  sign,  nor  token,  may  receive. 
To  hint  the  fate  of  him  so  loved,  so  dear, 
And  who,  unseen,  may  still  be  lingering  near  ; — 
Perchance,  in  spirit,  knows  each  joy  or  woe, 
Or  hope  or  fear,  the  friend  of  earth  may  know. 

Our  Vance  is  dead — How  pale  his  lips  and  dumb. 
And  nevermore  may  loving  accents  come 
From  those  mute  organs,  nor  shall  Senate  Halls 
Resound  with  forceful  eloquence,  that  falls 
From  lips  of  his, — now  silent  as  is  death  : 


33©  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

From  mortal  clay,  has  fled  the  vital  breath. 
No  more  shall  Buncombe's  hardy  yeoman  meet 
In  mighty  throngs,  her  honored  son  to  greet ; 
Upon  his  words  to  hang,  and  list  the  strain 
Of  noble  thought  and  theme,  in  lofty  vein — 
And  patriotic,  firing  sonls  to  thought. 
And  deed,  most  worthy  of  the  cause  he  sought, — 
The  best  good  of  his  country,  and  his  State. 
Alas  !  the  swift-winged  Messenger  of  Fate, 
Full  soon,  o'ertakes  all  men,  however  great  ; 
While  folded  in  his  wings,  he  ever  bears. 
To  man,  a  respite  from  his  earthly  cares  ; 
A  final  answer  to  this  problem,  deep  : — 
Is  death — or  no — one  long,  eternal  sleep. 

f        Our  Vance  is  dead  : — He  chose  the  better  part  ; 
Though  poor  in  purse,  how  nobly  rich  in  heart. 
Nor  did  he  seek  the  sordid  things  of  earth, 
But  fain  aspired  to  those  of  royal  worth. 
He  sought  a  loyal  people's  good  esteem  ; 
Their  love  and  honor  was  his  dearest  dream. 
This  Commonwealth,  that  proudly  claims  his  birth, 
Hath  shown  him  honors,  and  esteemed  his  worth  : 
/        Thrice  hath  he  won  her  Gubernatorial  Chair  ; 
To  govern  jiistly,  was  his  greatest  care  ; 
To  Halls  of  Congress,  twice  he  hath  been  sent, 
And  chosen  thrice  his  State  to  represent. 
Among  the  Solons  of  his  Land  a  Peer, 
Unbribed  by  Favor,  and  unswervedby  Fear. 
And  now  he's  passed  away,  beloved  and  great, — 
The  very  idol  of  the  Old  North  State. 
Among  her  mountains,  grand,  his  body  lies. 
Her  honored  Hero,  and  her  Statesman,  wise. 
His  words  and  deeds,  recalled,  will  be,  I  deem. 
For  years  to  come,  the  story  teller's  theme. 

— C.  Clarke  Brown,  in  The  Register. 

ZEBULON    BAIRD    VANCE.  —  183O-1894. 

Son  of  the  mountain  side, 

Thy  work  is  done! 
Thy  toil  is  o'er,  and  from  the  shore 

Thy  bark  hath  gone. 

Heart  so  broad  and  free. 

We'll  miss  thee  long! 
In  martial  strife,  or  calmer  life, 

So  brave  and  strong. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  33 1 

Thou  of  the  nobler  mind 

Than  oft  we  see, 
No  valliant  light  for  truth  and  right, 

But  e'er  had  thee. 

State  that  he  loved  so  well, 

Forever  keep 
Sacred  his  name,  his  lasting  fame, 

Till  all  shall  sleep. 

—William  Thornton  Whitsett. 


332  LIFK   OF  VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

EULOGIES   IN    THE    UNITED   STATES   SENATE. 

Orations  by  His  Colleagues  in  the  Senate — Ransom,  Morrill,  Sherman, 
Gray,  Blackburn,  George,  Dubois,  Chandler  and  Jarvis. 

THE  following  eloquent    and    pathetic    orations    were 
delivered  by  Vance's  colleagues  in  the  Senate  on 
January  19th,  1895: 

[Address  of  Mr.  Ransom.] 

Mr.  President  :  The  Senate  is  asked  to  render  its  last 
duties  of  honor  and  sorrow  to  the  memory  of  the  Hon. 
Zebulon  Baird  Vance,  late  a  Senator  from  North  Carolina. 

In  this  Chamber  on  the  i6tli  of  last  April,  two  days  after 
his  death,  the  Senate  lighted  its  black  torches  around  the 
lifeless  form  of  that  most  honored  and  beloved  son  of  our 
State,  and  his  mortal  figure,  covered  with  the  white  flowers 
of  spring  and  love,  and  hallowed  by  the  sacred  devotions  of 
religion,  passed  amid  tears  like  a  shadow  from  these  por- 
tals forever.  To-day  his  associates  on  this  floor  are  here 
to  place  on  the  ever-living  annals  of  the  Senate  the  record 
of  their  admiration  and  affection  for  his  virtues. 

In  1878  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate,  and  until  he  died 
remained  a  member  of  this  body,  having  been  elected  four 
times  a  Senator.  His  record  in  the  Senate  is  part  of  the 
nation's  history.  From  the  beginning  he  w^as  an  active, 
earnest  debater,  a  constant,  faitliful  worker,  a  dutiful, 
devoted  Senator,  aspiring  and  laboring  for  the  welfare  and 
honor  of  the  wliole  country.  He  was  at  all  times  on  the 
important  committees  of  the  body,  and  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  discussion  of  almost  every  leading  question. 
He  was  the  unceasing  advocate  of  revenue  reform,  uncom- 
promisingly opposed  to  civil  service,  and  the  ardent  friend 
of  silver  money  and  its  free  coinage  by  the  Government. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  ;^;^^ 

He  vigilantly  defended  the  rights,  honor,  and  interests  of 
the  Sonthern  States,  not  from  sectional  passion  or  preju- 
dice, but  because  it  was  his  duty  as  a  patriot  to  every  State 
and  to  the  Union.  He  was  bold,  brave,  open,  candid, 
and  without  reserve.  He  desired  all  the  world  to  know 
his  opinions  and  positions  and  never  hesitated  to  avow 
them. 

His  heart  every  moment  was  in  North  Carolina.  His 
devotion  to  the  State  and  people  was  unbounded;  his  solici- 
tude for  her  welfare,  his  deep  anxiety  in  all  that  concerned 
her,  and  his  ever  readiness  to  make  every  sacrifice  in  her 
behalf  was  daily  manifested  in  all  his  words  and  actions. 
Senator  Vance  was  an  uncommon  orator.  He  spoke  with 
great  power.  His  style  was  brief,  clear,  and  strong.  His 
statements  were  accurate  and  definite,  his  arguments  com- 
pact and  forcible,  his  illustrations  unsurpassed  in  their 
fitness.  His  wit  and  humor  were  the  ever-waitine  and 
ready  handmaids  to  his  reasoning,  and  always  subordinated 
to  the  higher  purpose  of  his  speech.  They  were  torch- 
bearers,  ever  bringing  fresh  light.  He  always  instructed, 
always  interested,  alvva}'s  entertained,  and  never  wearied 
or  fatigued  an  audience,  and  knew  when  to  conclude. 
The  Senate  always  heard  him  with  pleasure,  and  the 
occupants  of  the  galleries  hung  upon  his  lips,  and  with 
bended  bodies  and  outstretched  necks  would  catch  his  every 
word  as  it  fell. 

He  rarely,  if  ever,  spoke  without  bringing  down  applause. 
His  wit  was  as  inexhaustible  as  it  was  exquisite.  His 
humor  was  overflowing,  fresh,  sparkling  like  bubbling  drops 
of  w4ne  in  a  goblet;  but  he  husbanded  these  rare  resources 
of  speech  with  admirable  skill,  and  never  displayed  them 
for  ostentation.  They  were  weapons  of  offense  and  defense, 
and  were  always  kept  sharp  and  bright  and  ready  for  use. 
He  was  master  of  irony  and  sarcasm,  but  there  was  no 
malice,  no  hatred  in  his  swift  and  true  arrows.  Mortal 
wounds  were  often  given,  but  the  shafts  were  never  pois- 


/ 


334  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

oned.  It  was  the  strength  of  the  bow  and  the  skill  of  the 
archer  that  sent  the  steel  through  the  heart  of  its  victim. 
But  strength,  force,  clearness,  brevity,  honesty  of  convic- 
tion, truth,  passion,  good  judgment,  were  the  qualities  that 
made  his  speech  powerful  and  effective. 

He  believed  what  he  said.  He  knew  it  was  true ;  he  felt 
its  force  himself;  his  heart  was  in  his  words;  he  was  ready 
to  put  place,  honor,  life  itself,  upon  the  issue.  This  was 
the  secret  of  his  popularity,  fame,  and  success  as  a  speaker. 
He  studied  his  speeches  with  the  greatest  care,  deliberated, 
meditated  upon  them  constantly,  arranged  the  order  of  his 
topics  with  consummate  discretion,  introduced  authorities 
from  history,  and  very  often  from  sacred  history,  presented 
some  popular  faith  as  an  anchor  to  his  ship,  and  concluded 
with  a  sincere  appeal  to  the  patriotic  impulses  of  the  people. 
No  speaker  ever  resorted  to  the  bayonet  more  frequently. 

He  did  not  skirmish ;  he  marched  into  the  battle, 
charged  the  center  of  the  lines,  and  never  failed  to  draw 
the  blood  of  the  enemy.  Sometimes  he  was  supreme  in 
manner,  in  words,  in  thought,  in  pathos.  He  possessed 
the  thunderbolts,  but,  like  Jove,  he  never  trifled  with  them; 
he  only  invoked  them  when  gigantic  perils  confronted  his 
cause.  In  1876,  upon  his  third  nomination  for  Governor, 
speaking  to  an  immense  audience  in  the  State-house 
Square  at  Raleigh,  he  held  up  both  hands  in  the  light  of 
the  sun  and  with  solemn  invocation  to  Almighty  God 
declared  that  they  were  white  and  stainless,  that  not  one 
cent  of  corrupt  money  had  ever  touched  their  palms.  The 
effect  was  electric ;  the  statement  was  conviction  and  con- 
clusion. The  argument  was  unanswerable.  It  was  great 
nature's  action.     It  was  eloquence.     It  was  truth. 

Senator  Vance's  integrity  and  uprightr|ess  in  public  and 
in  private  life  were  absolute ;  they  were'  unimpeached  and 
unimpeachable;  he  was  honest ;  it  is  the  priceless  inheri- 
tance which  he  leaves  to  his  family,  his  friends,  his  coun- 
try.    He  was  an  honest  man.     Calumny   fell   harmless  at 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  335 

his  feet;  the  light  dissipated  every  cloud  and  he  lived  con- 
tinually in  its  broad  rays  ;  his  breastplate,  his  shield,  his 
armor  was  the  light,  the  truth.  There  was  no  darkness, 
no  mystery,  no  shadow  upon  his  bright  standard. 

Senators  will  all  remember  the  loss  of  his  eye  in  the 
winter  of  1889.  How  touching  it  was — a  sacrifice,  an 
offering  on  the  altar  of  his  country.  For  no  victim  was 
ever  more  tightly  bound  to  the  stake  than  he  was  to  his 
duty  here.  How  bravely,  how  patiently,  how  cheerfully, 
how  manfully  he  bore  the  dreadful  loss !  But  the  light, 
the  glorious  light  of  a  warm  heart,  a  noble  nature,  a  good 
conscience,  an  innocent  memory  was  never  obscured  to 
him.  It  was  to  him  a  great  bereavement,  but  it  was 
another,  a  more  sacred  tie  that  again  and  again  bound  his 
countrymen  to  him. 

In  his  long  and  tedious  illness  no  complaint,  no  mur- 
murs escaped  his  calm  and  cheerful  lips.  He  was  com- 
posed, firm,  brave,  constant,  hopeful  to  the  last.  His  love 
of  country  was  unabated,  his  friendships  unchanged,  his 
devotion  to  duty  unrelaxed.  His  philosophy  was  serene, 
his  brow  was  cloudless,  his  spirit,  his  temper,  his  great 
mind,  all  were  superior  to  his  sufferings. 

His  great  soul  illuminated  the  physical  wreck  and  ruin 
around  it  and  shone  out  with  clearer  luster  amid  disease 
and  decay.  Truly  he  w^as  a  most  wonderful  man.  His 
last  thoughts,  his  dying  words,  his  expiring  prayers  were 
for  his  country,  for  liberty  and  the  people.  A  great 
patriot,  a  noble  citizen,  a  good  man,  it  is  impossible  not  to 
remember,  to  admire,  to  love  him.- 

I  can  not  compare  Senator  Vance  with  Caesar,  Napo- 
leon, or  Washington.  I  can  not  place  him  at  the  side  of 
Webster,  Clay,  and  Calhoun.  I  do  not  measure  him  with 
Chatham  and  Gladstone.  He  was  not  a  philosopher  like 
Franklin,  he  was  not  an  orator  like  Mirabeau,  but  placed 
in  any  company  of  English  or  iVmerican  statesmen  he 
would  have  taken  high  position. 


336  I.TF'E   OF   VANCE. 

He  had  not  the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  Macon  ;  he  \va» 
not  like  Badger,  a  master  of  argument;  he  was  not  like 
Graham,  a  model  of  dignity  and  learning  ;  he  had  not  the 
superb  speecli  and  grand  passion  of  Mangum ;  he  wanted 
the  tenacious  and  inexorable  logic  of  Bragg ;  but  in  all  the 
endowments,  qualities,  faculties,  and  attainments  that  make 
up  the  orator  and  the  statesmen  he  was  the  equal  of  either. 
No  man  among  the  living  or  the  dead  has  ever  so  pos- 
sessed and  held  the  hearts  of  North  Carolina's  people. 
In  their  confidence,  their  affection,  their  devotion,  and 
their  gratitude  he  stood  unapproachable — without  a  peer. 
When  he  spoke  to  them  they  listened  to  him  with  faith, 
with  admiration,  with  rapture  and  exultant  joy.  His  name 
was  ever  upon  their  lips.  His  pictures  were  in  almost 
every  household.  Their  children  by  hundreds  bore  his 
beloved  name,  and  his  words  of  wit  and  wisdom  were  re- 
peated by  every  tongue. 

What  Tell  was  to  Switzerland,  what  Bruce  was  to  Scot- 
land, what  William  of  Orange  was  to  Holland,  I  had  almost 
said  what  Moses  was  to  Israel,  Vance  was  to  North  Caro- 
lina. I  can  give  you  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  deep,  fervid, 
exalted  sentiment  which  our  people  cherished  for  their 
greatest  tribune.  He  was  of  them.  He  was  one  of  them. 
He  was  with  them.  His  thoughts,  his  feelings,  his  words 
were  theirs.  He  was  their  shepherd,  their  champion,  their 
friend,  their  guide,  blood  of  tlieir  blood,  great,  good,  noble, 
true,  human  like  they  were  in  all  respects,  no  better,  but 
wiser,  abler,  with  higher  knowledge  and  prof oundcr  learning. 

Nor  was  this  unsurpassed  devotion  unreasonable  or 
without  just  foundation.  For  more  than  the  third  of  a 
century,  for  upward  of  thirty  years,  in  peace  and  in  war, 
in  prosperity  and  in  adversity,  in  joy  and  in  sorrow,  he 
had  stood  by  them  like  a  brother — a  defender,  a  preserver, 
a  deliverer.  He  was  their  martyr  and  had  suffered  for 
their  acts.  He  was  their  shield  and  had  protected  them 
from  evil  and  from   peril.      He  had  been    with  them — he 


LIFE  OF  VANCE.  ;^;^y 

had  been  with  them  and  their  sons  and  brothers  on  the 
march,  by  the  camp  fires,  in  the  bnrnino^  light  of  battle ; 
beside  the  wounded  and  the  dyino- ;  in  their  darkest  hours, 
amid  huno^er  and  cold,  and  famine  and  pestilences,  his 
watchful  care  had  brought  them  comfort  and  shelter  and 
protection.  They  remembered  the  gray  jackets,  the  warm 
blankets,  the  good  shoes,  the  timely  food,  the  blessed  medi- 
cines, which  his  sympathy  and  provision  had  brought 
them.  In  defeat,  amid  tumult,  amid  ruin,  humiliation, 
and  the  loss  of  all  they  had,  he  had  been  their  adviser ; 
he  had  guided  them  through  the  wilderness  of  their  woes 
and  brought  them  safely  back  to  their  rights  and  all  > 
their  hopes.  He  had  been  to  them  like  the  north  star  to 
the  storm-tossed  and  despairing  mariner.  He  had  been 
greater  than  Ulysses  to  the  Greeks.  He  had  preserved 
their  priceless  honor,  had  saved  their  homes,  and  was 
the  defender  of  their  liberties.  He  w^as  their  benefactor. 
Every  object  around  them  reminded  them  of  his  care, 
every  memory  recalled,  every  thought  suggested,  his  use- 
fulness and  their  gratitude.  The  light  from  their  school- 
houses  spoke  of  his  services  to  their  education.  The  very 
sight  of  their  graves  brought  back  to  their  hearts  his  ten- 
der devotion  to  their  sons.  And  the  papers  and  the  wires 
with  the  rising  of  almost  every  sun  bore  to  their  pure 
bosoms  the  news  of  his  success,  his  triumphs,  and  his 
honors.  They  were  proud  of  him  ;  they  admired  him — 
they  loved  him.  These,  these  were  the  foundations,  the 
solid  foundations,  of  his  place  in  their  minds  and  in  their 
hearts.  From  the  wind-beaten  and  storm-bleached  capes  of 
Hatteras  to  the  dark  blue  mountain  tops  that  divide  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee  there  is  not  a  spot  from  which  the 
name  of  Vance  is  not  echoed  with  honor  and  love.  '  But 
his  influence  and  his  fame  were  not  confined  within  State 
lines. 

In  New   England  the  sons  of    the  brave    Puritans  ad- 
mired his  love  of  liberty,  his  independence  of  thought,  his 

23 


T,T,8  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

freedom  of  speech,  his  contempt  for  pretensions,  and  his 
abhorrence  of  deceit.  The  hardy  miners  in  the  far  West 
and  on  the  Pacific  hills  felt  his  friendship  and  were  grate- 
ful for.  his  services.  Virginia  loved  him  as  the  vindicator 
of  her  imperiled  rights  and  honor.  From  the  farms  and 
fields  and  firesides  of  the  husbandmen  of  the  Republic 
there  came  to  him  the  greeting  of  friends,  for  he  was 
always  the  advocate  of^'low  taxes  and  equal  rights  and 
privileges  to  all  men.  /  From  all  the  South  he  was  looked 
upon  as  the  representative  of  their  sorrow  and  the  example 
of  their  honor ;  and  all  over  the  civilized  world  the  people 
of  Israel — "the  scattered  nation" — everywhere  bowed  with 
uncovered  heads  to  the  brave  man  who  had  rendered  his 
noble  testimony  and  a  tribute  to  the  virtues  of  their  race. 
Even  the  officers,  the  sentinels,  and  watchmen  over  him  in 
the  Old  Capitol  Prison,  in  which  he  was  confined  on  the 
alleged  and  wrongful  charge  that  he  had  violated  the  laws 
of  war,  were  spellbound  by  his  genial  spirit  and  became 
his  devoted  friends  up  to  the  hour  of  his  death.  His 
genius,  his  ability,  his  humanity,  his  long-continued  pub- 
lic service  his  great  physical  suffering,  a  martyrdom  to  his 
duty,  the  sorcery  of  his  wit,  the  magic  of  his  humor,  and 
the  courage  of  his  convictions  had  attracted  the  universal 
sympathy  and  admiration  of  the  American  people. 

In  the  brief  summary  in  the  Directory  is  embraced  a 
great  life:  County  attorney,  member  of  the  State  house  of 
commons;  Representative  in  two  Congresses;  captain  and 
colonel  in  the  Southern  army;  three  times  elected  Gov- 
ernor of  his  State,  and  four  times  elected  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States.  What  a  record  and  what  a  combi- 
nation !  A  great  statesman,  a  good  soldier,  a  rare  scholar,  a 
successful  lawyer,  an  orator  of  surpassing  power  and  elo- 
quence, and  a  man  popular  and  beloved  as  few  men  have 
ever  been !  Great  in  peace  and  great  in  war,  equal  to  every 
fortune,  superior  to  adversity,  and,  greater  still,  superior  to 
prosperity  !     Successful  in  everything  which  he  attempted, 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  339 

eminent  in  every  field  in  which  he  appeared,  and  fitted  for 
every  effort  which  he  nndertook ! 

He  was  master  of  political  science  and  distinguished  in 
scholarship  and  literature.  His  political  speeches  were 
models  of  popular  oratory  and  his  literary  addresses  were 
compositions  of  chaste  excellence.  He  wrote  an  electric 
editorial  and  drafted  a  legislative  bill  with  equal  clearness 
and  brevit)\  His  pen  and  his  tongue  were  of  equal  qual- 
ity. He  used  both  with  equal  power.  He  wrote  much  ; 
he  spoke  more.  Everything  emanating  from  him  wore 
his  own  likeness.  He  borrowed  from  no  man.  He  imi- 
tated no  man  and  no  man  could  imitate  him.  He  was 
unique,  original,  wonderful,  incomprehensible  unless  he 
was  a  genius  with  faculties  and  powers  of  extraordinary 
and  exceptional  character. 

His  temper  \vas  admirable,  calm,  well  balanced,  serene. 
He  cared  less  for  trifles  than  an}'  man  I  ever  knew.  He 
brushed  them  away  as  a  lion  shakes  the  dust  from  his 
mane.  In  this  respect  he  was  a  giant.  He  was  like  Sam- 
son breaking  the  frail  withes  that  bound  his  limbs.  He 
was  never  confused,  rarely  impatient,  seldom  nervous,  and 
never  weak. 

He  was  merciful  in  the  extreme.  Suffering  touched  him 
to  the  quick.  He  was  compassion  itself  to  distress.  He 
was  as  tender  as  a  gentle  woman  to  the  young,  the  weak, 
the  feeble.  He  was  full  of  charity  to  all  men,  charitable 
to  human  frailty  in  every  shape  and  form  and  phase.  He 
had  deep,  powerful  impulses,  strong  and  passionate  resent- 
ments ;  in  the  heat  of  conflict  he  was  inexorable,  but  his 
generosity,  his  magnanimity,  his  sense  of  justice  were 
deeper  and  stronger  and  better  than  the  few  passing  pas- 
sions of  his  proud  nature.  To  his  family  and  friends  he 
was  all  tenderness  and  indulgence.  His  great  heartalways 
beat  in  duty,  with  sympathy,  with  the  highest  chivalry  to 
woman. 


340  LIFE    OF    VANCE. 

The  man  that  lays  his  hand  upon  a  woman, 
Save  in  the  way  of  kindness,  is  a  wretch, 
Whom  't  were  gross  flattery  to  name  a  coward, 

was  always  upon  his  lips. 

He  was  ambitions,  very  ambitious;  but  with  him  ambi- 
tion was  virtue.  He  aspired  to  be  great  that  he  might  be 
useful,  to  do  good,  to  improve  and  to  benefit  and  to  help 
mankind.  His  was  not  the  ambition  of  pride  and  of  arro- 
gance and  of  power.  It  was  the  ambition  of  benevolence 
and  philanthropy,  the  ambition  to  elevate,  to  lift  up,  to 
bless  humanity. 

From  early  manhood  he  had  possessed  a  respectable  com- 
petence. At  no  time  did  he  ever  suffer  penury.  He  hus- 
banded with  great  care  his  resources  and  was  prudent, 
frugal,  thoughtful  in  his  expenditures;  but  he  never  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  pity  or  to  sorrow.  He  was  not  avaricious  ; 
he  had  no  love  for  money  and  was  never  rich  in  gold,  sil- 
ver, and  precious  stones  or  lands,  but  he  was  opulent  in 
the  confidence  and  affections  of  the  people.  His  great 
wealth  was  invested  in  the  attachments,  the  friendships, 
the  faith,  the  devotions  of  his  fellow-men,  that  priceless 
wealth  of  love  of  the  heart — of  the  soul — which  no  money 
can  purchase. 

In  many  respects  he  was  very  remarkable.  In  one  he 
was  singularly  so.  He  never  affected  superiorit}-  to  human 
frailty.  He  claimed  no  immunity  from  our  imperfection. 
He  realized  that  all  of  us  were  subject  to  the  same  condi- 
tions, and  he  regarded  and  practiced  humility  as  a  cardinal 
virtue  and  duty. 

Senator  Vance  was  happy  in  his  married  life.  In  his 
early  manhood  he  was  married  to  Miss  Harriet  Newell 
Esp^y,  of  North  Carolina.  She  was  a  woman  of  high  in- 
tellectual endowments,  of  uncommon  moral  force,  of  exem- 
plary piety,  and  exercised  a  great  influence  for  good  over 
her  devoted  husband  which  lasted  during  his  life.  Their 
union  was    blessed    with  four    sons,   who  survived  their 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  34 1 

parents.  His  second  wife  was  Mrs.  Florence  Steele  Mar- 
tin, of  Kentncky,  a  lady  of  brilliant  intellect,  of  rare  grace 
and  refinement,  who  adorned  his  life  and  shed  Inster  and 
joy  on  his  home. 

All  during-  the  fatal  malady  that  ended  his  life,  with 
sleepless  affection,  with  tireless  tenderness,  with  holy  duty, 
she  was  by  him  until  the  last  breath  came,  and  he  expired 
in  her  arms,  in  the  solace  of  her  love. 

He  loved  the  Bible  as  he  loved  no  other  book.  All  of 
his  reverence  was  for  his  God.  He  lived  a  patriot  and  a 
philanthropist  and  he  died  a  Christian.  This  is  the  sum  of 
duty  and  honor. 

He  has  gone.  His  massive  and  majestic  form,  his  full, 
flowing  white  locks,  his  playful,  twinkling  eye,  his  calm, 
homelike  face,  his  indescribable  voice,  have  left  us  forever. 
He  still  lives  in  our  hearts. 

The  great  Mirabeau  in  his  dying  moments  asked  for 
music  and  for  flowers  and  for  perfumes  to  cheer  and 
brighten  his  mortal  eclipse.  Vance  died  blessed  with  the 
fragrance  of  sweetest  affections,  consecrated  by  the  holiest 
love,  embalmed  in  the  tears  and  sorrows  of  a  noble  people. 
The  last  sounds  that  struck  his  ear  w^ere  the  echoes  of 
their  applause  and  gratitude,  and  his  eyes  closed  with  the 
light  of  Christian  promise  beaming  upon  his  soul. 

On  the  night  of  the  i6th  of  April  last  we  took  his  cas- 
ket from  these  walls.  We  bore  it  across  the  Potomac — 
through  the  bosom  of  Virginia,  close  by  the  grave  of 
Washington,  almost  in  sight  of  the  tombs  of  Jefferson  and 
Madison,  over  the  James,  over  the  North  and  the  vSouth 
Roanoke,  over  the  unknown  border  line  of  the  sister 
States — to  the  sad  heart  of  his  mother  State.  The  night 
was  beautiful.  The  white  stars  shed  their  hallowed  radi- 
ance upon  earth  and  sky.  The  serenity  was  lovely.  The 
whole  heavens  almost  seemed  a  happy  reunion  of  the  con- 
stellations. With  the  first  light  of  day  the  people,  singly, 
in  groups,    in   companies,  in  crowds,    in   multitudes,  met 


342  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

US  ever5'\vhere  along  the  way — both  sexes — all  ages — all 
races — all  classes  and  conditions.  Their  sorrow  was  like 
the  gathering  clouds  in  morning,  ready  to  drop  every 
moment  in  showers. 

We  carried  him  to  the  State  house  in  Raleigh,  the  scene 
of  his  greatest  trials  and  grandest  triumphs  ;  the  heart  of 
the  State  melted  over  her  dead  son.  Her  brightest  jewel 
had  been  taken  away  !  We  left  Raleigh  in  the  evening, 
and  passing  over  the  Neuse,  over  the  Yadkin,  over  the 
Catawba,  up  to  the  summit  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  we  placed 
the  urn  with  its  noble  dust  on  the  brow  of  his  own  moun- 
tain, the  mountain  he  loved  so  well.  There  he  sleeps  in 
peace  and  honor.  On  that  exalted  spot  the  willow  and  the 
cypress,  emblems  of  sorrow  and  mourning,  can  not  grow, 
but  the  bay  and  the  laurel,  the  trees  of  fame,  will  there 
flourish  and  bloom  in  perpetual  beauty  and  glory.  There 
will  his  great  spirit,  like  an  eternal  sentinel  of  liberty  and 
truth,  keep  watch  over  his  people. 

Senators,  I  feel  how  unable  I  have  been  to  perform  this 
sacred  duty.  It  would  have  been  one  of  the  supreme  joys 
of  my  life  to  have  done  justice  to  the  life  and  character  of 
this  great  and  good  man,  to  have  enshrined  his  memory  in 
eloquence  like  his  own.  But  whatever  may  have  been  the 
faults  of  these  words,  I  have  spoken  from  a  heart  full  of 
sorrow  for  his  death  and  throbbing  with  admiration  and 
pride  for  his  virtues. 

[Address  of  Mr.  MorriU.] 

Mr.  President  :  Our  late  associate  here,  Senator  Vance, 
appears  to  have  been,  both  early  and  late,  a  prime  favorite 
of  North  Carolina.  He  was  born  there,  and  was  early 
made  an  heir  to  honorable  and  lifelong  fame.  The  same 
year  of  his  admission  to  the  bar,  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-two,  he  was  elected  county  attorney.  Two  years 
later  he  was  elected  to  the  State  house  of  commons,  and 
then,  when  only  one  year  past  the  age  of  eligibility,  he 
was  promoted  to  the   United  States  House  of  Representa- 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  343 

tives,  where  he  remained  a  member  from    1857  ^^   1861. 

Then,  starting  as  a  captain  in  the  militar>'  line  of  the 
rebellion,  in  three  mouths  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel. 
But  his  State  in  1862  more  needed  his  services  as  a  civil- 
ian, and  he  was  elected  at  the  age  of  thirty-two  Governor 
of  the  State.  By  re-election  he  held  this  office  through 
all  the  stern  vicissitudes  of  the  rebellion.  While  a  stanch 
supporter  of  the  Confederacy,  he  yet  had  some  State-rights 
differences  with  its  President,  but  they  were  amicably 
adjusted. 

Rarely  has  any  man  so  young  been  intrusted  by  the  peo- 
ple of  a  great  State  and  in  a  great  crisis  with  the  foremost 
official  stations  within  their  gift. 

But  to  them  always — 

A  man  he  seems  of  cheerful  yesterdays 
And  confident  to-morrows — 

and  he  had  their  hearts. 

Largely  home  and  self-instructed,  finely  equipped  with  a 
full-chested  physique  and  resonant  voice,  and  with  a  genial 
overflow  of  mother  wit,  he  early  became  a  notable  orator 
in  all  political  campaigns  ;  but  it  was  his  close  touch  and 
familiarity  with  the  leading  topics  of  the  day,  his  fidelity 
to  his  convictions  of  duty,  as  well  as  respect  for  the  senti- 
ments of  his  people,  and  his  spotless  personal  reputation 
which  made  them  grapple  him  to  their  souls  "with  hooks 
of  steel."  To  whatever  station  called,  so  well  pleased 
were  his  people  that  with  one  accord  they  asked  to  have 
him  go  up  higher. 

When  he  was  first  elected  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  1857  as  a  Whig,  with  South-American  proclivities, 
I  had  been  serving  there  first  as  a  Wliig  with  Republican 
proclivities,  and  if  either  of  us  then  had  much  reverence 
for  the  Democratic  party  I  must  admit  it  was  prudently  dis- 
sembled. Young  and  brimful  of  humor,  song,  and  story, 
he  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  members  of  all  parties  in 
the  House,   as   he  was  here.     In  an  era  when   our  whole 


344  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

country  appeared  to  be  rumbling  with  invisible  earth- 
quakes and  hissing-  with  the  oratorical  skyrockets  of  seces- 
sion he  served  for  four  years,  or  until  1861,  and,  so  far  as  I 
remember,  contributed  nothing  to  our  or  to  the  national 
"unpleasantness." 

During  his  Senatorial  service,  from  1879,  ^^  fifteen  years 
he  was  not  a  frequent  debater,  except  on  tariff  and  revenue 
questions,  where  he  differed  radically  from  such  ancient 
Whig  statesmen  as  Badger,  Mangum,  and  Stanly,  formerly 
representing  the  Old  North  State;  but  whenever  he  spoke 
he  had  no  lack  of  hearers,  and  they  were  often  rewarded 
by  the  originality  of  his  remarks  and  by  the  witticisms 
interspersed,  redolent  of  his  native  Buncombe  county.  So 
long  as  health  permitted  he  was  a  regular  attendant  upon 
the  meeting  of  the  Senate  Finance  Committee,  of  which  he 
was  a  valuable  member. 

The  large  increase  in  the  number  of  the  members  in 
both  Houses  of  Congress  has  made  obituary  notices  of  such 
frequent  occurrence  that  I  fear  the  time  occupied  for  the 
brief  tributes  here  to  our  departed  fellow-members  is  some- 
times granted  with  reluctance.  I  feel  sure,  however,  that 
no  one  will  begrudge  the  hour  subtracted  from  legislative 
affairs  and  now  given  up  to  the  memory  of  the  most 
beloved  man  perhaps  of  his  State  associated  with  us  here 
for  many  years,  and  one,  however  widely  apart  politically 
from  some  of  us,  for  whom  every  Senator  here  to-day  is  a 
sincere  mourner. 

I  called  upon  him  toward  the  end  of  his  earthly  career 
and  found  him  bearing  his  bodily  afflictions  with  cheerful 
fortitude. 

The  loss  to  his  State  will  be  great,  and  to  his  family 
incomputable.  Personally,  I  lament  here  to  say,  farewell, 
my  time-honored  friend ! 

[Address  of  Mr.  Sherman.] 
Mk.  Pri'.sidext  :     The  frequent  recurrence  of  scenes  like 
this,  when  the  Senate  pauses  in  its  important  duties  to  note 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  345 

the  death  of  one  of  its  members,  must  impress  us  with 
the  feeble  tenure  with  which  we  hold  both  life  and  public 
honor.  We  recall  our  departed  associate  with  kindness  and 
charit)-.  We  bur}-  in  his  grave  all  the  differences  of  opin- 
ion, all  party  or  sectional  contentions,  and  think  only  of  the 
good  he  has  done,  of  the  qualities  of  his  head  and  heart 
which  gained  our  affection  or  commanded  our  respect.  It 
is  in  this  spirit  I  wish  to  add  a  few  words  to  the  eloquent 
eulogy  of  Governor  Vance  by  his  distinguished   colleague. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  him  was  when  he  became  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Thirty-fifth 
Congress,  having  been  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by 
the  election  of  Mr.  Clingman  to  the  Senate.  He  was  about 
twenty-eight  years  old,  large,  handsome,  and  of  pleasing 
address  and  manner.  He  called  himself  a  Whig — a  Henry 
Clay  Whig — and  supported  the  public  policy  of  that  emi- 
nent statesman.  In  this  we  were  in  hearty  sympathy.  We 
were  thrown  frequently  into  kindly  association.  We  could 
agree  on  many  questions  of  public  policy,  but  we  could  not 
agree  on  the  sectional  question  then  arising  like  a  threaten- 
ino-  cloud  on  the  horizon.  We  were  born  in  different  lati- 
tudes,  under  the  influence  of  different  institutions,  with  firm 
convictions  honestly  entertained,  but  diametrically  opposite 
with  respect  to  the  institution  of  slavery. 

This  wide  difference  of  opinion  was  chiefly  sectional, 
and  therefore  more  dangerous.  This  institution  was  a 
slumbering  volcano  anxiously  perceived  by  the  framers  of 
our  Constitution  and  carefully  dealt  with,  in  the  hope  that 
by  the  action  of  the  several  States  African  slavery  would 
be  gradually  abolished  as  inconsistent  with  our  free  insti- 
tutions. This  hope  was  delusive.  Slavery  at  different 
periods  of  our  history  threatened  our  National  Union,  but 
happily  this  contention  was  wisely  smothered  by  the  com- 
promises of  1820  and  1850,  though  it  only  needed  a  torch 
to  arouse  it  into  activity.     The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  com- 


346  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

promise  in  1854  was  the  cause,  or,  as  some  say,  the  pretext, 
of  the  violent  destruction  of  parties  and  the  civil  war. 

Governor  Vance  entered  Congress,  in  1858,  as  a  member 
of  the  American  party,  occupying  a  middle  position 
between  the  Democratic  and  the  Republican  parties.  He 
did  not  rush  into  the  arena  of  debate,  but  his  personal  and 
social  qualities,  and  especially  his  wit  and  humor,  were 
well  known,  and  gained  him  many  friends.  After  a  month 
or  two  he  was  drawn  into  a  brief  casual  debate,  and  at 
once  was  recognized  as  a  young  man  of  marked  ability. 
Later  in  the  same  session  he  made  one  speech  defining  his 
opinions  on  the  leading  questions  of  the  day.  From  this 
time  his  ability  as  a  debater  was  conceded. 

In  the  memorable  Thirty-sixth  Congress  Governor 
Vance  took  a  more  active  part.  He  still  held  his  fellow- 
ship with  the  American  party,  but  that  party  melted  away 
under  the  influence  of  passing  events.  The  struggle  in 
Kansas,  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party,  the  break- 
ing up  of  the  Charleston  convention,  the  adoption  of  new 
dogmas  for  and  against  slavery — these  and  many  other 
events  left  no  room  for  parties  except  on  sectional  lines, 
and  no  choice  of  policy  except  disunion  with  slavery  per- 
petuated, or  of  union  with  slavery  abolished.  I  criticise 
no  man  for  his  choice  in  that  conflict.  It  was  indeed  an 
irrepressible  conflict,  the  seeds  of  which  were  planted 
before  our  Union  was  founded.  Governor  Vance  took 
sides  with  his  people  and  I  with  mine.  The  result  was  in 
the  disposal  of  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  universe,  who 
doeth  all  things  well.  I  believe  the  time  will  come,  if  it 
has  not  already  cQUie,  when  the  North  and  the  South,  the 
Confederate  and  the  Union  soldier,  and  their  descendants 
in  far  distant  generations,  will  thankfulh'  unite  in  praise 
to  God  that  our  conflict  ended  with  a  restored  and  streno^th- 
ened  Union. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil 
war  Governor  Vance  was  conspicuous  at  home  as  well    as 


UFE  OF  VANCE.  347 

here  as  an  ardent,  outspoken  Union  man,  but  he  also  loved 
his  State  and  his  people,  among  whom  he  had  been  born 
and  bred,  and  when  they  were  sw^ept  away  by  the  torrent 
of  opinion  in  the  belief  that  it  was  their  duty  to  secede 
from  the  Union  he  went  with  them.  The  question,  as  it 
presented  itself  to  his  mind,  was  whether  he  should  fight 
with  his  neighbors  or  against  them.  Of  his  decision  in 
such  a  choice  there  could  be  no  doubt.  As  a  soldier  and 
Governor  of  North  Carolina  he  did  all  he  could  to  estab- 
lish the  Southern  Confederacy,  but  when  the  events  of  the 
war  led  the  Confederate  authorities  to  trench  upon  what 
he  considered  as  the  rights  of  his  people  he  firmly  insisted 
upon  preserving  those  rights. 

Some  years  after  the  war  closed  he  was  elected  to  a 
seat  in  this  body.  I  need  not  say  to  Senators  that  in  the 
performance  of  his  public  duties  and  in  his  association  with 
his  fellow-Senators  he  was  always  a  pleasant  companion 
and  a  kind  and  indulgent  friend.  He  carefully  attended  to 
public  duties,  took  his  full  share  in  the  debates,  and  con- 
tributed by  his  wisdom  and  counsel  to  many  important 
public  measures. 

The  life  of  a  man  and  a  nation  is  like  the  current  of  a 
river,  full  of  dangers,  at  times  calm  and  slow  and  then 
rapid  and  turbulent.  From  the  feeble  spring  of  infancy  to 
the  resting  place  in  the  ocean  or  the  grave,  there  are  many 
trials,  vicissitudes,  storms,  and  trouble,  as  well  as  peace- 
ful and  happy  moments.  Our  enjoyment  of  life  depends 
largely  upon  temperament.  The  obstructions  in  our  way 
are  mountains  or  molehills,  according  to  the  disposition  of 
each  individual.  We  create  in  a  measure  our  own  sun- 
shine and  shadow.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  the 
peculiar  characteristics  of  Governor  Vance  were  his  happy 
temperament  and  hopeful  view  of  life.  He  carried  with 
him  wherever  he  went'cheerfulness  and  joy.  The  humor 
and  pathos  with  which  he  illustrated  an  argument,  the  sin- 
cerity and  moderation  of  his  opinions,  his  fidelity  to  his 


348  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

friends,  the  apparent  honesty  of  his  convictions — these 
were  the  attributes  of  our  departed  friend.  In  his  life 
among  us  in  the  Senate  he  was  clieerful,  kind,  and  consid- 
erate. He  left  no  enemies  here.  He  died  assured  of  the 
affection  of  his  family,  the  confidence  of  his  constituents, 
the  love  and  respect  and  honor  of  his  associates  in  the 
Senate. 

[Address  of  Mr.  Gray.] 

]\Ir.  President:  The  man  whose  loss  we  mourn  to-day 
was  no  ordinary  man,  and  the  words  of  touching-  eulogy 
to  which  we  have  listened  have  set  vibrating  chords  of 
sympathy  and  grief  in  a  manner  and  to  a  degree  not 
ordinary.  How  hard  is  it  for  each  of  us,  even  after  this 
interval  since  his  death,  to  realize  that  we  shall  see  his  face 
no  more. 

Senator  Vance  had  become,  more  than  is  usual,  a  part, 
an  almost  necessary  part,  it  seemed,  of  our  daily  life  here. 
In  him  the  humanities  were  so  active  and  so  abundant  that 
he  seemed  made  to  brighten  social  life  and  strengthen  the 
social  instinct. 

In  this  hour  of  sad  retrospect  his  kindness  of  heart,  his 
ready  and  responsive  sympathy,  his  catholicity  of  spirit, 
his  freedom  from  bigotry,  envy,  and  all  uncharitableness, 
are  the  qualities  upon  which  we  who  knew  and  loved  him 
fain  would  dwell  to  the  exclusion  of  those  attributes  of 
intellect  and  character  which  excited  our  admiration  and 
so  distinguished  his  public  career.  And  yet  the  "elements 
were  so  mixed  in  him" — his  gentleness,  his  courage,  his 
magnanimity,  his  robust  manhood,  his  humor,  and  his 
remarkable  intellectual  gifts — that  it  is  hard  to  analyze  the 
man  or  consider  him  otherwise  than  he  was,  teres  atque 
rotundus. 

His  public  life  was  a  long  and  full  one.  It  covered  a 
period  replete  with  interest  to  his  State  and  country. 
Fearless  in   the   expression   of  his    mature   convictions,   he 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  349 

had  an  almost  unequaled  power  of  impressing  them  on  the 
Senate  and  the  conntry. 

His  equipment  as  an  orator  was  strong  and  unique. 
Great  quickness  of  perception  was  united  to  great  facility 
and  felicity  of  speech.  His  mind  was  well  disciplined  and 
logical,  and  he  maintained  the  purpose  and  continuity  of 
his  argument  with  great  ability  and  skill.  But  it  was  in 
what  is  called  running  debate  that,  it  seemed  to  me,  his 
greatest  power  was  displayed.  The  quick  play  of  his 
intellectual  forces  here  made  hiiu  preeminent.  Sarcasm, 
repartee,  humor,  were  all  at  instant  command.  Of  these 
weapons  he  had  always  a  quiver  full,  and  woe  to  the 
antagonist  who  carelessly  exposed  himself  to  them.  But 
this  ready  wit  never  left  scars  behind. 

He  never  made  a  brow  look  dark 

Nor  caused  a  tear  but  when  he  died.  , . 

Like  lambent  lightning,  his  wit  was  softly  bright ;  it 
illuminated,  but  did  not  burn.  :L' 

There  are  few  of  us  who  can  not  recall  the  delight 
occasioned  by  its  display,  and  how  story,  epigram,  and 
apt  illustration  lighted  up  many  a  tedious  discussion,  his 
clearness  of  mental  vision  making  many  a  crooked  path 
straight.  No  debate  was  dull  in  which  he  engaged,  and 
no  one  cared  to  leave  this  Chamber  when  Vance  was  on 
the  floor. 

No  one  who  heard  the  long  debate  on  the  tariff  bill  of 
1890  will  ever  forget  the  part  which  was  taken  in  it  by 
Senator  Vance. 

As  a  member  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  this  body  he 
bore  in  large  measure  the  burden  of  that  memorable  dis- 
cussion. The  details  of  the  bill  were  thoroughly  mastered 
by  him,  and  he  devoted  laborious  days  and  nights  to  the 
study  of  the  complex  and  difficult  questions  involved  in  its 
consideration.  He  sacrificed  his  ease  and  comfort  to  the 
performance  of  his  duty,  and  his  unremitting  devotion  to 
the  work  before  him  through  the  long-  weeks  and  months 


350  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

of  that  spring  and  summer  cost  him  the  sight  of  an  eye 
and  greatly  impaired  his  naturally  strong  constitution. 

It  has  been  given  to  few  men  to  carve  for  themselves  so 
secure  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  their  country's  fame. 

Senator  Vance  was  thoroughly  in  touch  with  the  plain 
people,  as  Lincoln  loved  to  call  them.  He  understood 
them,  and  was  one  in  feelings  and  sympathy  with  them. 
He  loved  the  folklore  of  the  mountain  districts  of  his  own 
State,  and  dwelt  with  fond  pleasure  on  the  home-bred 
traits  and  fireside  virtues  of  the  people  among  whom  he 
lived. 

And  right  royally  did  that  generous  people  return  his 
love. 

It  was  my  sad  privilege,  Mr.  President,  to  be  one  of  the 
committee  that  accompanied  his  remains  to  their  last  rest- 
ing place  in  the  State  he  loved  so  well,  and  I  was  witness 
to  the  spontaneous  expression  of  affectionate  regard  for  his 
memory. 

The  demonstration  was  confined  to  no  class  or  color. 
Wherever  we  went,  rich  and  poor,  white  and  black,  alike 
seemed  in  their  grief  to  have  received  that  touch  of  nature 
which  makes  the  whole  world  kin. 

And  when  we  had  performed  the  last  melancholy  offices 
for  the  dead,  and  left  him  in  his  grave  on  the  moun- 
tain side,  amid  the  beautiful  scenery  of  the  French  Broad, 
we  felt  that  no  monumental  marble  would  be  necessary 
to  preserve  the  rich  heritage  of  the  name  and  fame  of 
Zebulon  B.  Vance  to  his  State  and  country. 

[Address  of  Mr.  Blackburn.] 

Mr.  President  :  I  have  thought  that  it  might  be  better 
that  these  ceremonies  should  be  changed  and  that  what- 
ever was  to  be  said  of  the  dead  might  be  said  at  the  time 
when  the  announcement  of  the  death  was  made. 

If  I  had  taken  counsel  of  the  love  that  I  bore  this  man  I 
would  have  come  as  others  have,  with  a  carefully  arranged 
and  prepared  eulogy  illustrating  his  virtues  and  his  merits. 


UFE   OF  VANCE.  351 

But  I  have  not.  However,  I  listened  to  the  address  deliv- 
ered by  his  surviving  colleague,  and  it  went  far  to  remove 
the  prejudice  that  I  hold  against  these  ceremonials,  for 
never  in  all  my  life  did  I  hear  the  virtues,  the  merits,  the 
worth  of  a  man  more  eloquently  portrayed,  more  fairly 
and  truthfully  put. 

I  cannot  agree  to  let  this  occasion  go  by  without  at- 
testing at  the  expense  of  the  time  of  the  Senate  for  one 
minute  the  appreciation  in  which  I  held  this  man  and  the 
love  that  I  cherished  for  him.  His  genial  nature  attracted 
everybody.  There  was  a  special  reason  for  me  to  know 
him  closely.  The  widow  whom  he  left  behind  him  is  a 
cherished  and  petted  daughter  of  ni}-  State.  That  natur- 
ally drew  us  together.  I  knew  him  for  the  last  twenty 
years.  I  knew  him  by  reputation  before.  Whether  as  sol- 
dier or  as  citizen,  as  member  of  the  other  House,  as  mem- 
ber of  this  Chamber,  or  as  Governor  of  his  State  in  the 
stormiest  day  that  this  country  ever  knew,  he  loomed  up 
alwaj's  above  the  forms  of  those  by  whom  he  was  sur- 
rounded. He  was  known  as  the  great  war  Governor  of  the 
South,  and  ranked  side  by  side  with  the  great  Curtin,  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  represented  the  loyalty  of  the  Union  at 
that  dark  hour. 

This  man's  character,  ]\Ir.  President,  is  best  illustrated 
by  an  instance  with  wdiich  I  became  acquainted  only 
within  the  last  week,  and  but  for  which  I  would  not  have 
asked  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  to  attest  my  love  to  his 
memory.  The  General  Commanding  the  Armies  of  this 
country  told  me  less  than  a  week  ago  that  when  the  war 
ended  he  was  left  in  command  of  the  district  of  North 
Carolina.  He  received  an  order  peremptory  from  the  War 
Office  here  to  arrest  Governor  Vance,  to  capture  all  his 
papers  and  correspondence  and  send  them  to  the  War 
Department.  He  said  he  knew  full  well  that  Vance  was 
not  seeking  to  flee  the  country  or  avoid  arrest,  but  that  he 
sent  an  ofl&cer  up  to  his  mountain  home  with  instructions 


352  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

to  capture  every  paper  that  belonged  to  his  official  or  his 
personal  correspondence  and  bring  them  there;  and  the 
officer  did. 

General  Schofield  sent  Governor  Vance  with  those  papers 
and  records  here  to  the  then  Secretary  of  War.  We  all 
remember  that  that  was  Pennsylvania's  great  war  officer, 
Stanton,  whom  some  people  thought  was  not  mild,  whom 
some  thought  was  even  savage;  but  who,  in  my  judgment, 
in  point  of  efficiency  and  ability  was  the  greatest  war  min- 
ister that  the  earth  has  known  since  the  days  of  the  elder 
Carnot  of  France.  General  Schofield  sent  Governor  Vance 
here,  and  among  those  records  he  sent  the  book  which  con- 
tained every  particle  of  correspondence  that  Vance  had  ever 
held  with  the  President  of  the  dead  Confederacy.  All  was 
open,  and  Stanton  examined  it  all.  When  he  did,  and  saw 
what  this  man  had  done,  how  persistent  his  efforts  had  been 
to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  Federal  prisoners  and  to 
assuage  the  horrors  of  war,  this  great  Secretary  said  to  him, 
"Upon  your  record  you  stand  acquitted  ;  you  are  at  liberty  to 
go  where  you  will." 

Mr.  President,  may  not  we  v/ho  knew^  this  man  so  well 
and  loved  him  so  closely  indulge  the  hope  that  another,  a 
greater  Judge,  with  ampler  power,  whose  writs  run  through- 
out eternity  as  well  as  time,  after  examining  the  record  of  a 
life  spent  in  the  service  of  his  fellows,  reached  the  same 
conclusion  and  delivered  same  verdict  that  Stanton  did, 
and  told  our  dead  friend  that  "Upon  your  record  you  stand 
acquitted,  and  through  all  the  shining  realms  of  Paradise 
you  may  go  where  you  will." 

[Address  of  Mr.  George.] 

Mr.  President:  I  wnllingly  comply  with  the  request 
of  the  senior  Senator  from  North  Carolina  [Mr.  Ransom] 
to  take  part  in  these  memorial  services. 

My  personal  acquaintance  with  Senator  Vance  com- 
menced in  1 88 1,  when  I  became  a  member  of  the  Senate. 
He  had  then  been  a  Senator  for  a    time   long  enough   to 


UFR    OK   VANCH.  353 

acquire  a  leadership  on  the  Democratic  side  of  this  Cham- 
ber— a  leadership  which  was  every  year  more  and  more 
distinctly  recognized  until  his  death. 

From  the  very  first  I  was  attached  to  him,  not  more  by 
his  many  high  social  qualities  than  by  a  conviction  on  my 
part  of  his  great  value  as  a  statesman.  Our  association 
was  such  that  it  enables  me  to  say  with  pride  that  we 
were  friends.  His  powers  of  debate  were  remarkable  and 
in  many  respects  unrivaled.  He  possessed  sound  logic, 
which  enabled  him  to  solve  the  most  difficult  problems 
and  to  present  his  views  on  them  with  great  clearness  and 
force.  He  was  gifted  also  with  great  humor,  which  he 
used  in  debate  with  effectiveness  in  illustrating  his  argu- 
ment. He  used  his  great  powers  of  wit  and  humor  not  as 
mere  ornament  to  his  discourse,  but  always  as  a  substan- 
tial aid  to  his  argument.  This  gift  was  always  made  sub- 
ordinate to,  and  a  servant  of,  his  powers  of  reasoning.  He 
was  one  of  the  few  men  whom  I  have  known  who,  being 
possessed  of  brilliant  powers  to  please  and  attract  by  wit, 
humor,  and  anecdote,  never  succumbed  to  the  tempta- 
tion to  be  amusing  and  agreeable  at  the  expense  of  being 
instructive. 

In  any  legislative  body  in  the  world  he  would  have  been 
esteemed  great. 

The  moral  side  of  Senator  Vance  was  no  less  admirable. 
He  was  brave,  generous,  magnanimous,  humane,  tender, 
and,  above  all,  honest ;  honest  not  only  in  his  actions,  but 
in  his  thoughts.  He*  had  his  high  ideal  of  the  good,  and 
lived  up  to  it  without  deviation.  His  idea  of  honesty  did 
not  stop  at  fairness  in  dealings  with  others,  but  it  com- 
pelled an  adherence  to  fair  dealing  with  himself,  an  honest 
and  upright  purpose  in  the  ends  he  sought,  either  by  pri- 
vate enterprise  or  public  service.  He  had  an  ambition  to 
serve  in  public  life,  but  it  was  an  ambition  which  found 
gratification  only  in  rendering  great  public  service.  He 
loved  the  great  mass  of  his  countrymen ;   he   sympathized 

24 


354  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

in  their  struggles  and  in  their  aspirations.  His  ambition 
was  to  make  these  struggles  easier,  and  to  make  these 
aspirations  higher  and  nobler,  and  to  secure  to  them  as  the 
end  more  ha]3piness  and  greater  advancement. 

In  an  age  where  the  occasional  demoralization  of  public 
men  had  cast  suspicion  upon  high  characters,  not  the 
slightest  taint  ever  rested  upon  him.  He  was  unspotted. 
He  went  through  the  fiery  ordeal  with  no  stain  upon  his 
garment.  He  had  that  high  devotion  to  the  people's 
rights  and  interests  that  he  could  not  view  public  measures 
in  any  other  aspect  than  as  to  their  effect  on  the  general 
welfare.  He  never  considered  them  with  reference  to  their 
effect  on  his  own  personal  or  political  fortunes  or  for  the 
purpose  of  advancing  the  interest  of  a  few  favorites  of  for- 
tune or  of  government. 

In  conclusion  I  feel  warranted  in  saying  that  the  sober 
verdict  of  history  will  assign  to  Senator  Vance  a  very 
high  place  in  the  first  class  of  American  statesmen,  and 
that  his  death,  at  that  stage  of  the  development  of  his  high 
powers  when  his  greatness  and  usefulness  were  recognized 
by  all,  came  too  soon  for  the  public  good,  and  was  a  great 
national  loss. 

[Address  of  Mr.  Dubois.] 

Mr.  President:  Zebulon  B.  Vance  was  born  on  the 
13th  day  of  May,  1830,  in  Buncombe  county,  N.  C.  He 
was  educated  at  Washington  College,  Tennessee,  and  the 
University  of  North  Carolina.  In  Januar}',  1852,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  and  was  elected  attorney  for  his  native 
county  in  the  same  year.  In  1854  he  served  as  a  member 
of  the  State  house  of  commons  of  North  Carolina,  and  was 
a  Representative  from  North  Carolina  in  the  Thirty-fifth 
and  Thirty-sixth  Congresses.  In  Ma\',  1861.  he  entered 
the  Confederate  army  as  a  captain  and  was  promoted  to  a 
colonelcy  in  August  of  the  same  year.  He  was  elected 
Governor  of  North  Carolina  in  August,  1862,  and  was  re- 
elected in  August,  1864. 


LIFE   OF    VANCE.  355 

He  was  known  as  the  war  Governor  of  his  State,  and  dur- 
ing his  administration  the  great  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was 
never  suspended.  During  his  incumbency  of  the  office  of 
Governor,  and  just  at  the  close  of  the  war,  his  State  was 
taken  possession  of  by  the  Federal  troops.  He  was  cap- 
tured, released  on  parole,  and  confined  to  Iredell  county, 
N.  C.  In  a  short  time  thereafter  he  was  again  taken  in 
charge  by  a  company  of  United  States  troops  at  Statesville, 
N.  C,  and  brought  from  there  to  the  Old  Capitol  Prison, 
in  Washington,  where  he  was  confined  for  about  three 
months. 

In  November,  1870,  Governor  Vance  was  elected  to  the 
United  State  Senate,  but  was  unable  to  qualify  because  his 
political  disabilities  had  not  been  removed.  He  resigned 
his  claim  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate  in  January,  1872.  In  the 
same  year  he  was  again  the  Democratic  nominee  for  United 
States  Senator,  but  was  defeated  by  a  combination  of  bolt- 
ing Democrats  and  Republicans,  who  elected  the  late  Judge 
Merrimon.  In  the  meantime  he  practiced  law  in  Char- 
lotte, N.  C,  with  the  Hon.  Clement  Dowd,  with  whom  he 
remained  in  partnership  until  1876,  when  he  was,  for  the 
third  time,  nominated  for  Governor  of  his  State  and  elected. 
by  a  large  majority — the  Republicans,  up  to  that  time, 
having  had  control  of  the  State  government  from  the  close 
of  the  war.  On  March  18,  1879,  Senator  Vance,  having 
again  been  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate — this  time 
to  succeed  Senator  INIerrimon — took  his  seat  in  this  Cham- 
ber and  remained  a  member  of  this  body  until  the  day  of 
his  death,  April  14,  1894.  His  term  of  service  would  not 
have  expired  until  March  4,  1897. 

No  man,  I  believe,  ha^  ever  enjoyed  to  a  greater  extent 
the  love  and  affection  of  the  people  of  the  State.  It  was 
genuine  love  and  affection,  and  [  was  told  that  when  the 
news  of  his  death  was  announced  many  men  and  women, 
as  well  as  children,  all  over  his  State,  wept  as  if  they  had 
lost  a  near  and   dear  relative  as  well  as  friend.     He  appre- 


^. 


356  LIFE   OF    VANCE. 

ciated  keenly  the  friendship  cf  his  people  and  the  many- 
honors  they  had  conferred  upon  him,  and  was,  in  turn, 
their  true,  loyal,  and  devoted  friend  and  champion  to  his 
last  dying  breath.  No  one  of  his  constituents  was  too 
humble  to  be  accorded  an  interview  at  any  time,  and  to  be 
rendered  a  service  if  it  was  in  his  power  to  aid  or  cheer 
them. 

The  respect  and  devotion  uniformly  shown  by  the  peo- 
ple at  his  funeral  was  such  as  is  rarely,  if  ever,  accorded 
to  a  public  man.  Throngs  of  people  lined  the  railroad 
track  all  the  way  from  Raleigh  to  Asheville.  The  night 
before  reaching  Asheville  was  ideal,  and  peculiar  to  South- 
ern climes.  The  moon  was  shining  full,  the  air  was 
balmy,  and  most  of  us  who  composed  the  funeral  escort 
sat  up  until  long  past  midnight.  In  the  early  hours  of  the 
morning,  as  the  train  would  whirl  past  a  small  station, 
hundreds  of  people  could  be  seen  standing  on  the  banks 
near  the  track  in  solemn  and  reverent  silence.  They  knew 
the  train  would  not  stop,  yet  they  had  traveled  many  miles 
in  order  to  pay  this  last  tribute  of  love  to  their  departed 
leader  and  friend.  All  with  whom  I  came  in  contact  said 
that  Senator  Vance  was  regarded  as  a  personal  friend  by 
everyone. 

I  was  particularly  struck  with  a  little  incident  that  hap- 
pened as  the  funeral  train  was  passing  through  Durham, 
N.  C,  where  it  stopped  for  a  few  moments,  to  allow  the 
citizens  to  view  the  remains.  The  crowd  was  so  great  that 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  people  could  reach  the  funeral 
car;  in  fact,  many  were  not  able  to  get  there  at  all,  and 
among  the  latter  was  an  old  lady  who  was  deeply  disap- 
pointed at  being  prevented  from  taking  a  last  look  at  her 
departed  friend.  She  tried  to  console  herself,  however,  by 
showing  the  crowd  a  twenty-five  cent  and  a  ten-cent  sil- 
ver piece  which  she  had  placed  upon  the  track  as  the  train 
ran  into  the  station.     They  were  completely  flattened  out. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  357 

and  she  proposed  to  keep  them  as  mementos.  She  said  it 
was  all  the  money  she  had  on  earth. 

Another  tonchino-  incident  occnrred  at  Asheville,  where 
he  was  bnried.  The  snrviving  soldiers  of  his  old  company 
who  went  to  the  front  with  him  when  the  late  war  broke 
out  attended  the  funeral  in  a  body,  or  rather  all  of  them 
who  were  able.  There  was  one  who  lived  many  miles 
from  the  city,  and  who,  on  account  of  being  a  cripple  from 
wounds  received,  could  not  go  to  the  grave.  At  the  hour 
for  the  last  sad  services  to  commence,  however,  he  had 
himself  carried  to  the  little  building  not  far  away,  which 
served  both  as  country  school  house  and  church,  and  there 
he  solemnly  tolled  the  bell  as  long  as  he  thought  the  rites 
were  continuing. 

Senator  Vance  could  not  bear  unfriendly  or  strained 
relations  with  any  of  his  colleagues,  and  always  found  a 
way  to  overcome  them.  It  was  my  lot  to  run  counter 
to  him  during  my  early  life  in  Congress.  He  bitterly 
opposed  the  admission  of  Idaho  to  the  Union,  which  I  as 
the  Delegate  was  urging,  and  made  a  speech  full  of  sar- 
casm and  ridicule  adverse  to  our  claims.  His  picture  of 
our  citizens  was  a  most  severe  arraignment.  After  Idaho 
became  a  State,  and  my  seat  in  the  Senate  was  contested, 
Senator  Vance  took  the  side  of  my  opponent  and  earnestly 
contended  against  the  legality  of  my  election.  Several 
months  after  the  contest  had  been  decided  in  my  favor, 
and  when  we  were  fighting  on  the  same  side  in  favor  of 
silver,  he  came  to  my  seat  one  day  and  said  :  "Dubois, 
I  am  willing  to  forgive  you  for  everything  I  have  done 
against  you  and  Idaho."  From  that  time  until  his  death 
I  had  the  honor  and  pleasure  of  his  friendship  and  confi- 
dence. 

I  believe  that  more  than  all  else,  if  possible,  he  cherished 
and  prided  himself  upon  the  confidence  his  people  had  in 
his  integrity  and  honesty.  He  often  spoke  of  it,  and  said 
they  knew   "his   hands  were   clean,"  and   if  he  had  made 


358  LIFE    OF    VANCE. 

mistakes  they  were  mistakes  of  judgment,   and   not  made 
through  dishonest  motives. 

His  sense  of  humor  remained  with  liim  to  the  last. 
Twenty-four  hours  before  he  died  he  sent  for  his  friend  and 
colleague,  Senator  Blackburn.  Orders  had  been  given  by 
his  physician  that  he  must  not  be  excited  by  visitors.  "Joe," 
said  Vance,  "they  say  I  must  not  see  anyone,  but  you  won't 
hurt  me,  and  you  know  I  can't  hurt  you."  In  that  inter- 
view,, which  he  knew  was  his  last,  he  cheered  his  friend 
with  anecdotes  and  reminiscences,  and  sent  kindly  words 
to  his  colleagues  whom  he  was  leaving. 
[Address  of  Mr.  Chandler.] 

Mr.  President:  The  tributes  of  affection  given  to  the 
memory  of  Senator  Vance  when,  on  the  17th  of  April  last, 
we  bore  his  remains  to  their  last  resting  place,  proved  that 
he  was  universally  beloved  by  the  people  of  the  State  of 
North  Carolina,  without  distinction  of  party  or  of  race. 
Wherever  the  train  halted  crowds  of  friendly  sympathizers, 
with  sad  faces  and  kindly  words,  expressed  their  sense  of 
their  loss  of  their  Senator,  whom  all  seemed  to  have  known 
as  a  friend,  and  whose  fame  all  seemed  to  feel  was  a  glory 
to  them  and  their  Commonwealth. 

South  and  east  we  went  to  Raleigh;  all  business  was 
suspended  and  the  whole  region  poured  out  its  crowds  to 
take  a  last  look  at  the  form  of  their  great  citizen,  soldier. 
Governor,  and  Senator,  resting  within  the  precincts  of  the 
State  capitol.  Not  merely  the  Governor  and  State  officers, 
but  all  the  people,  old  and  young,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, white  and  black,  pressed  through  the  j^ortals  Lo  say 
farewell  to  him  they  loved  as  a  public  man  has  seldom  been 
loved  by  those  whom  he  has  served. 

Then  we  went  westward  toward  the  mountain  home  of 
our  departed  friend.  All  the  stations  were  thronged  with 
eager  yet  gentle  mourners.  At  Durham,  most  melodious 
voices,  coming  from  men  and  women  with  black  faces  and 
toil-worn  hands,  sang  with    touching  pathos,   "Father,   we 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  359 

rest  in  Thy  love."  At  Greensboro  the  little  station  was 
crowded  with  citizens,  and  the  old  Twenty-sixth  Regiment 
Band  of  Salem-Winston,  which  had  followed  the  fortnnes 
of  war  with  their  chieftain,  discoursed  sacred  music. 

At  last,  on  the  morning  of  the  i8th,  we  reached  the 
section  where  our  friend  was  born.  From  the  surround- 
ing towns  to  Asheville  came  delegations  ;  from  Charlotte, 
Hendersonville,  Marion,  Morganton,  Winston,  Salisbury, 
and  others  whose  names  have  passed  from  me.  In  remoter 
places  we  learned  that  all  labor  had  ceased  ;  buildings  were 
draped ;  flags  were  half-masted,  and  commemorative  services 
were  held.  In  Asheville  the  day  was  wholly  given  to 
the  burial  of  their  beloved  dead.  It  seemed  as  if  every  res- 
ident came  to  see  in  death  him  whom  they  had  known  so 
well  in  life.  Masons,  Odd  Fellows,  State  militia.  Confed- 
erate veterans,  local  organizations  of  many  names,  were  the 
escort  to  and  from  the  church.  The  school  children,  in 
their  beauty  and  freshness,  lined  the  roadway  ;  and  after 
appropriate  religious  rites,  in  the  beautiful  cemetery  at 
Riverside,  on  the  slopes  of  the  valley  of  the  noble  French 
Broad  River — ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust — we  committed 
to  mother  earth,  from  which  it  sprung,  the  lifeless  body  of 
him  whose  immortal  soul  had  left  its  tenement  of  clay,  and 
who,  even  as  we  stood  there  mourning,  w^as  walking  with 
the  angelic  hosts  in  the  streets  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 

Mr.  President,  almost  unqualified  praise  may  be  spoken 
of  the  character  of  this  son  of  North  Carolina  whom  we 
now  commemorate.  Born  among  the  mountains  which 
are  so  surely  the  home  of  untamed  freedom,  he  was  self- 
re]iant  and  independent.  He  was  a  strong  man  naturally 
and  intellectually,  and  made  himself  a  name  and  a  fame  as 
a  lawyer,  as  an  orator,  and  as  a  statesman  which  gave  him 
a  high  place  in  the  history  of  his  State,  and  entitle  him  to 
manifestations  of  respect  and  honor  from  this  Senate  and 
from  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

As   a   public  speaker  to  large  audiences  he  stood  amono- 


360  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  foremost  of  his  generation.  He  was  gifted  in  that 
great  essential  of  a  popular  orator,  a  vivid  imagination, 
enabling  him  to  freely  illustrate  his  ideas  and  thus  reit- 
erate them  to  his  auditors  with  great  effect.  His  accurate 
memory  supplemented  his  imaginative  powers,  and  with 
his  fine  person  and  pleasing  voice  he  early  became  the  lead- 
ing orator  of  his  day  in  his  State,  and  from  the  attract- 
iveness and  power  of  his  speeches,  in  every  part  of  that 
widely  extended  Commonwealth,  he  came  to  be  the  most 
familiar  figure  to  her  citizens  of  all  her  prominent  char- 
acters, admired,  sought  for,  applauded,  and  beloved  to  a 
height  of  personal  popularity  seldom  reached  by  a  public 
man. 

For  his  many-sided  and  superior  abilities  he  is  remem- 
bered and  mourned  by  his  people.  I  love  to  think  of  him 
as  a  tender  friend.  Possessed  of  a  keen  sense  of  humor, 
without  which  life  in  this  sad  and  mysterious  state  of 
existence  would  be  worth  so  little,  and  with  geniality  of 
temper  and  manner,  he  was  endeared  to  all  his  associates 
in  this  body.  They  were  always  glad  when  he  appeared  ; 
they  rejoiced  in  his  companionship  ;  his  wit  delighted 
them  without  inflicting  pain,  and  they  parted  from  him 
always  with  reluctance.  I  am  thankful  that  I  was  allowed 
the  privilege  of  assisting  in  bearing  his  mortal  frame  to  its 
last  resting  place,  and  that  I  am  now  permitted  to  speak 
even  feeble  and  inadequate  words  of  praise  and  affection 
for  the  courteous  gentlem.an,  the  good  citizen,  the  faithful 
husband  and  father,  the  eloquent  orator  and  accomplished 
Senator,  above  all,  the  gentle  and  loving  friend,  who  has 
gone  before  us  to  the  spirit  land. 

As  we  once  more  finally  part  in  this  world  with  one 
whose  joyous  presence  lately  filled  our  sight  and  thoughts, 
whom  we  can  still  see  with  eyes  of  mental  vision,  we 
cling  to  faith  in  immortality.  This  life  would  be  worth- 
less, and  a  mockery  of  human  hope,  if  there  were  not  a 
life  beyond.     Imperfection  pervades  every   earthly   posses- 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  361 

sion  and  achievement.     We  can  not  even   make   an  effort 

to  nnderstand  the  purposes  of  the  Maker  of  the  universe,  if 

this  life  is  the  whole  of  human   existence.     We  can  not 

brino;  ourselves  to  believe  in  His  goodness  if  the  wrongs 

of  this  life   are  not   to  be   made  right   in  a  future  state. 

Without  debating    dogmas,   we  all   hope,  we  all  believe, 

that  somehow,  somewhere,  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee 

away,  all  souls  shall   be  saved,  and   permanent  happiness 

shall  at  last  come  to  all  the  children  of  men.     This  faith, 

whether  kept  secret  or  admitted,    I  believe   abides  in  the 

hearts  of    all.     Mr.    Froude    expresses   what  he  says  is  a 

universal  feeling  : 

There  seems,  in  the  first  place,  to  lie  in  all  men,  in  proportion  to 
the  strength  of  their  understanding,  a  conviction  that  there  is  in  all 
human  things  a  real  order  and  purpose,  notwithstanding  the  chaos  in 
which  at  times  they  seem  to  be  involved.  Suffering  scattered  blindly 
without  remedial  purpose  or  retributive  propriety  ;  good  and  evil  dis- 
tributed with  the  most  absolute  disregard  of  moral  merit  or  demerit ; 
enormous  crimes  perpetrated  with  impunity,  or  vengeance  when  it 
comes  falling  not  only  on  the  guilty,  but  the  innocent,  *  *  t-  these 
phenomena  present,  generation  after  generation,  the  same  perplexing 
and  even  maddening  features  ;  and  without  an  illogical  but  none  the 
less  a  positive  certainty  that  things  are  not  as  they  seem  ;  that,  in  spite 
of  appearance,  there  is  justice  at  the  heart  of  them,  aud  that,  in  the 
working  out  of  the  vast  drama,  justice  will  assert  somehow  and  some- 
where its  sovereign  right  and  power,  the  better  sort  of  persons  would 
find  existence  altogether  unendurable. 

The  words  of  this  great  thinker  and  writer  find  an  echo 
in  every  thoughtful  human  soul.  But  faith  prevails  and 
hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast.  There  is  an 
existence  beyond  the  present  life  where  all  shall  be  made 
clear.  We  shall  see  as  we  are  seen ;  we  shall  know  even 
as  we  are  known. 

Mr.  Dickens  made  the  poor  idiotic  Barnaby  and  the 
coarse,  strong  Hugh  of  the  Maypole  Inn  hold  conversations 
about  the  wonders  of  the  visible  heavens ;  and  they  inquire 
of  each  other  whence  comes  the  light  of  the  innumerable 
stars  that  dot  the  skies.  When  they  w^ere  both  under  sen- 
tence of  death,  and,  just  before  the  dawn  of  day,  were  led 


362  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

across  the  prison  yard  toward  the  place  of  execution,  Bar- 
naby,  looking  np  toward  the  myriad  lights  of  the  night, 
exclaims — 

Hugh,  we  shall  know  what  makes  the  stars  shine,  now. 

Our  faith  here  to-day  ought  to  exceed  that  of  the  poor 
simpleton  created  by  the  imagination  of  the  novelist.  Not 
only  shall  we  know  what  makes  the  stars  shine,  but  all 
the  wonders  of  the  vast  universe  shall  be  open  to  our 
search.  Our  homes  shall  be  among  the  heavens ;  the 
problems  that  our  burdened  souls  have  studied  so  despair- 
ingly shall  be  happily  solved,  and  Vv'e  may  even  become 
participators  in  the  knov.dedge  and  power  of  Him 

Whose  power  o'er  moving  worlds  presides. 
Whose  voice  created  and  whose  wisdom  guides. 

To  this  felicity  the  friend  we  now  with  tenderness 
remember  has  already  fully  advanced.  We  would  not,  if 
we  could,  bring  him  back  to  earth,  slowly  and  painfully  to 
die  again.  We  wait,  reverently  and  hopefully,  for  the 
summons  to  us  tojoinhim  in  somestarthat  is  shining,  from 
eternity  to  eternity,  with  unfading  luster  in  God's  illimita- 
ble wilderness  of  worlds. 

[Address  of   Mr.  Jarvis.] 

Air.  President  :  I  had  not  intended  to  speak  on  this 
occasion,  for  the  distinguished  dead  of  whose  virtues 
others  have  spoken  so  justly  and  so  feelingly  was  to  me 
more  like  a  brother  than  a  friend.  But  in  the  last  few 
hours  I  have  concluded  to  speak,  and  I  nov/  ask  to  add 
this  simple  but  sincere  tribute  to  his  memory. 

Vance  was  arrested,  imprisoned  in  the  Old  Capitol  at 
Washington,  but  was  released  after  some  months,  and  then 
he,  too,  addressed  himself  to  the  great  work  of  bringing 
order  out  of  chaos  and  prosperity  out  of  poverty.  Before 
much  had  been  done  in  that  direction  his  State  passed 
through  the  bitter  days  and  years  of  reconstruction,  in 
which  he  stood  all  tlie  time  for  law   and  order  and   eood 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  363 

government.  In  the  election  of  1870  the  Democrats  car- 
ried the  Legislature  of  his  State,  and  when  that  body  con- 
vened Vance  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  but 
the  Senate  declined  to  remove  his  disabilities  or  to  admit 
him  to  his  seat  in  that  body. 

It  was  upon  his  return  trip  home  after  his  futile  effort  to 
get  his  disabilities  removed  that  he  is  said  to  have  made 
the  humorous  but  pointed  reply  to  the  two  clergymen 
who,  sitting  in  the  seat  in  front  of  him,  were  engaged  in  a 
heated  discussion  of  the  doctrine  of  election.  They  were 
not  able  to  agree,  and  seeing  that  the  gentleman  behind 
them  seemed  to  be  much  interested  in  the  discussion  they 
appealed  to  him  for  his  opinion.  To  their  inquiry  he 
promptly  replied :  "My  experience  is  that  the  election  is 
not  worth  much  if  your  disabilities  are  not  removed." 

The  Republicans  had  held  the  executive  and  judicial 
departments  of  the  State  government  of  North  Carolina 
from  July,  1868,  to  1S76,  and  they  did  not  intend  to  sur- 
render these  de]Dartments  without  a  stubborn  fight.  They 
nominated  the  Hon.  Thomas  Settle,  their  ablest  man,  for 
Governor,  to  lead  their  forces  in  the  great  campaign  of 
1876,  and  the  Democrats  nominated  the  idol  of  the  people, 
Hon.  Zebulon  B.  Vance,  to  lead  them.  These  two  giants, 
the  idols  of  their  respective  parties,  agreed  upon  and  con- 
ducted a  joint  canvass  of  the  State,  and  for  tliree  months 
they  addressed  in  joint  debate  the  greatest  political  assem- 
blages ever  seen  in  North  Carolina. 

Thousands  flocked  to  hear  them  every  day.  Great  cav- 
alcades met  them  on  the  highway  and  escorted  them  to 
the  places  of  speaking.  It  was  by  far  the  most  wonderful 
political  campaign  ever  seen  in  the  State,  and  Vance 
created  snch  enthusiasm  among  his  followers  that  he  was 
swept  into  office  by  a  m.ajority  of  more  than  13,000.  He 
was  inaugurated  Governor  of  his  State  for  the  third  time 
on  the  ist  of  January,  1877,  t>ut  he  only  served  out  half  of 
his  term  of  four  years.     Being  elected  to  the  United  States 


364  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

Senate  in  January,  1879,  he  resigned  the  office  of  Governor 
to  accept  a  seat  in  the  Senate,  and  his  successor  in  the 
Governor's  office  was  inaugurated  on  the  5th  day  of  February, 
1879,  The  reforms  and  plans  which  he  inaugurated  during 
his  two  years  of  service  as  Governor  for  the  development 
and  upbuilding  of  his  State  were  pursued  and  carried  out 
by  his  successor  in  office  to  the  great  advantage  of  the 
people  and  the  public  interest. 

He  was  re-elected  Senator  in  1885  and  again  in  189 1.  Of 
his  service  in  the  Senate,  of  which  the  people  of  his  State 
are  justly  proud,  I  shall  not  speak.  His  colleagues  who 
served  with  him  have  lovingly  done  this.  Thus  we  see 
that  he  was  twice  elected  to  the  lower  House  of  Congress, 
three  times  Governor  of  his  State,  and  four  times  to  the 
United  States  Senate.  In  these  particulars,  taken  together, 
he  had  an  indorsement  by  the  people  of  his  State  never 
given  to  any  other  North  Carolinian. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  thus  far  spoken  of  the  public 
services  of  this  truly  great  man.  I  now  beg  to  detain  the 
Senate  a  moment  with  a  few  observations  on  some  of  his 
characteristics.  He  w^as  an  intellectual  giant,  and  could 
have  easily  been  in  the  foremost  rank  of  any  department  of 
life  to  which  he  devoted  his  time  and  attention.  He  gave 
his  life  to  the  public  service  and  to  the  people.  His  success 
was  their  success  ;  his  glory,  their  glory.  They  shared  in 
all  his  trials  and  all  his  triumphs.  No  man  in  public  life 
ever  stood  more  steadfastly  by  the  people  and  for  the  people 
than  did  Zebulon  B.  Vance. 

In  his  political  creed  he  was  both  a  Republican  and  a 
Democrat  in  the  broadest  and  best  sense  of  these  terms.  He 
was  a  Republican  in  that  he  believed  in  a  republic.  He 
was  a  Democrat  in  that  he  believed  in  the  people  ruling 
that  republic.  Mr.  President,  our  impressions  of  objects 
and  men  are  often  colored,  if  not  controlled,  by  the  point  of 
view  from  which  we  see  or  contemplate  them.  So  our  con- 
clusions are  often  biased,    if   not   actual!)-   formed,    by  the 


LIFE   OF  VACNE.  365 

standpoint  from  which  we  approach  the  study  of  great  public 
questions.  Vance  always  approached  the  study  of  these 
questions  from  a  safe  and  right  standpoint,  and  he  always 
reached  correct  conclusions. 

His  starting  point  was  plain  and  simple,  but  sure  and 
safe.  It  was  from  the  standpoint  of  the  people's  interest. 
He  argued  this  is  the  people's  government.  They  are  the 
sovereigns,  and  those  chosen  to  make  or  administer  the  law 
are  their  servants.  What  is  their  interest  in  this  matter? 
was  his  inquiry.  That  being  determined,  the  way  was  easy 
and  the  path  of  duty  plain.  The  people's  good  was  what 
he  always  aimed  at.  No  power  on  earth  could  turn  him 
aside  from  that  line  of  action.  The  people  of  his  State 
knew  and  appreciated  his  devotion  to  them  and  they  loved 
him  for  it.  They  were  ever  ready  to  follow  where  he  led. 
His  God  was  their  God;  his  ballot,  their  ballot. 

Individual  rights  and  the  majesty  of  the  civil  law  never 
had  a  warmer  advocate  or  more  steadfast  friend  in  this 
country  than  this  great  tribune  of  the  people.  I  doubt  if 
there  were  many  States  in  the  Union  or  the  Confederacy 
during  the  war  in  which  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  that 
great  writ  of  the  people's  rights,  could  at  all  times  be 
promptly  executed  and  obeyed.  In  most  of  the  States  I 
presume  men  were  arrested,  imprisoned,  detained,  and  de- 
nied the  benefits  of  this  great  writ,  but  it  did  not  haj^pen  in 
North  Carolina. 

Governor  Vance,  although  ardently  supporting  the  Con- 
federacy, stood  by  the  writ,  even  in  the  face  of  the  army 
itself,  and  upheld  the  majesty  of  the  civil  law.  At  no 
time  in  his  whole  public  career  was  he  ever  known  to  con- 
sent to  the  surrender  of  or  encroachment  upon  any  of  the 
individual  rights  of  an  American  citizen,  but  he  was  ever 
ready  with  tongue  and  pen  to  defend  them  from  any  attack, 
no  matter  whence  that  attack  came.  He  was  truly  a  stu- 
dent of  the  science  of  government,  of  politics,  of  the  history 
of  the  rise  and  progress  of  States,  nations,  and  peoples,  and 


366  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  more  he  learned  and  knew  the  more  ardently  attached 
he  became  to  republican  America  and  her  democratic  in- 
stitutions. It  was  ]iere  that  the  people  had  their  greatest 
opportunities  and  their  highest  aspirations.  It  was  his  glory 
to  stand  by  the  people  in  all  their  struggles  and  aspirations 
for  broader  opportunities  and  a  higher  and  better  life. 

As  a  writer,  a  humorist,  and  an  orator  he  was  in  the 
front  rank  of  the  foremost  men  of  his  day.  But  of  these  I 
shall  not  speak.  That  work  will  best  be  performed  by  his 
biographer.  It  was  as  a  public  servant  and  as  a  friend  that 
I  knew  him  best,  and  it  is  of  these  that  I  have  preferred  to 
speak.  Many  circumstances  brought  us  close  together,  and 
I  may  be  pardoned  for  saying  tliat  it  is  probable  that  I  had 
his  confidence  as  fully  and  knew  as  much  of  his  inward  life 
and  labors  and  thoughts  in  the  interest  of  the  people  and 
the  public  service  as  any  one  of  his  closest  friends,  I  think 
he  has  talked  freely  with  me  about  ever}'-  public  question 
that  has  been  of  any  concern  to  the  people  of  North  Caro- 
lina since  the  close  of  the  war,  and  I  desire  here  in  my 
place  in  the  Senate  to  say  that  I  never  heard  him  discuss 
one  of  these  questions  in  his  own  interest.  The  only  con- 
cern I  ever  knew  him  to  have  was  how  to  solve  them  in  the 
true  and  best  interest  of  the  people.  He  was  always  ready 
to  assume  any  responsibility  or  to  undergo  any  labor  which, 
in  his  opinion,  could  serve  the  public  interest. 

In  that  section  of  the  State  where  he  was  born  and  where 
his  body  now  rests  there  are  many  grand  and  lofty  moun- 
tains standing  upon  their  eternal  base  and  lifting  their 
heads  into  the  very  clouds.  Some  are  three,  some  are  four, 
some  five,  and  some  are  more  than  six  thousand  feet  high. 
Any  one  of  them  serves  as  a  guide  to  the  traveler  and  im- 
presses him  with  its  grandeur  and  greatness.  But  there  is 
one  that  towers  high  above  them  all.  Mount  Mitchell 
stands  out  boldly  as  the  great  center  of  attraction,  and  it  is 
to  this  that  people   ahvays   turn   wlien  they   wish  to  gaze 


UFE   OF  VANCE.  367 

Upon  the  perfection  and  consummation  of  great  mountain 
scenery  in  all  its  magnificence  and  sublimity. 

So  in  North  Cnrolina  we  have  had  great  men,  any  one 
of  whom  was  and  is  an  honor  to  the  State,  and  of  whom  our 
people  have  been  and  still  are  justly  proud ;  but  it  is  no 
disparagement  to  those  to  say  that  Zebulon  Baird 
Vance  was  the  Mount  Mitchell  of  all  our  great  men,  and 
that  in  the  affections  and  love  of  the  people  he  towered 
above  them  all.  x'Vs  ages  to  come  will  not  be  able  to  mar 
the  grandeur  and  greatness  of  Alount  Mitchell,  so  they  will 
not  be  able  to  efface  from  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple the  name  and  memory  of  their  beloved  Vance. 

In  the  days  of  his  toil  and  labors,  when  fatigue  and 
weariness  came  upon  him,  lie  was  fond  of  retiring  to  his 
native  mountains,  and  there,  beneath  their  shadows,  he 
found  rest  and  restoration.  When  his  life  work  was  done 
it  was  meet  and  proper  that  his  body  should  be  laid  to  rest 
at  the  feet  of  these  same  mountains.  Shall  his  body  again 
be  restored?  Is  death  an  eternal  sleep,  or  is  it  rest  to  the 
body,  which  in  God's  own  appointed  time  shall  come  forth 
again,  restored  and  reunited  with  the  immortal  soul? 

This  man  was  not  too  great  to  accept  the  teachings  of 
the  Christian  religion.  He  believed  in  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  and  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  He  was  a 
great  student  of  the  Bible,  and  few  were  more  conversant 
with  the  Scriptures  than  he  was.  He  obeyed  its  precepts 
and  seized  upon  its  promises.  It  was  in  this  faith  that  he 
passed  from  time  to  eternity.  And  oh,  Mr.  President,  what 
a  comfort  it  is  to  know  that  our  friends  die  in  such  a  faith ! 
Hov/  insignificant  human  greatness  becomes  in  the  presence 
of  death  or  any  great  manifestations  of  divine  power ! 

Man,  isolated  and  alone,  is  but  a  tiny  atom  in  the  created 
universe.  In  the  busy  bustle  of  life,  with  his  friends  and 
fellows  shouting  his  praise,  man  feels  his  importance  and 
his  power ;  but  let  him  stand  out  alone  in  the  dread  dark- 
ness of  night,  when  the  heavens  are  black  and  angry  or 


368  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

when  the  earth  qiiahes  and  trembles,  and  then  how  utterly 
helpless  and  dependent  he  becomes !  It  is  in  such  times  as 
these,  as  well  as  in  the  still  more  trying  ordeal  when  he 
enters  alone,  as  he  must  do,  the  dark  valley  and  shadow  of 
death,  that  man  is  ready  to  acknowledge  his  nothingness 
and  to  cry  out  to  an  invisible  power  for  help. 

Oh,  what  a  blessing  it  is  in  an  hour  like  that  to  feel  that 
He  who  created  the  worlds  and  controls  all  the  forces  of 
nature  has  us  in  His  keeping,  and,  like  a  loving  father, 
doth  care  for  us  and  guide  us !  Our  dead  friend  had  that 
blessing.  While  in  the  sunshine  and  vigor  of  life  he  com- 
plied with  the  conditions  set  out  in  the  Bible  upon  which 
he  could  have  the  love  and  companionship  of  his  Heavenly 
Father  when  the  storm  came  and  Death  claimed  him  as  his 
own.  Shall  we  see  him  again?  May  God  in  His  infinite 
mercy  receive  us  with  him  into  His  Kingdom  above. 

Mr.  Ransom — Mr.  President,  I  beg  leave  to  state  that 
it  was  the  desire  and  purpose  of  the  Senator  from  Connect- 
icut (Mr.  Hawley)  and  the  Senator  from  Virginia  (Mr. 
Daniel)  to  speak  in  affectionate  remembrance  and  honor  of 
Senator  Vance,  but  they  were  both  called  away  unavoida- 
bly and  could  not  be  here. 

Mr.  Harris  (INIr.  Butler  in  the  chair) — As  a  further 
mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  I  move  that 
the  Senate  adjourn. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  agreed  to,  and  the  Senate 
adjourned  until  Monday,  January  21,  1895,  at  12  o'clock  m. 


UFE   OF   VANCE.  369 


CHAPTER  XX. 

LECTURE — THE  SCATTERED  NATION. 

History  of  the  Hebrew  People — Their  Characteristics  and  Peculiarities 
— Their  Persistence  and  Persecutions — Their  Merits  and  Heroic 
Qualities — Vance's  Greatest  Lecture. 

AYS  Prof.  INIaiiry :  "There  is  a  river  in  the  ocean.     In 

the    severest  droughts   it  never  fails,    and    in    the 

mightiest  floods  it  never  overflows.     The   Gulf  of    Mexico 

is  its  fountain,  and  its  mouth  is  in   the  Arctic  seas.     It   is 

the  Gulf  Stream.     There  is  in  the  world    no  other   such 

majestic  flow  of  waters.     Its  current  is  more  rapid  than 

the  iMississippi  or  the  Amazon,  and   its   volume  more  than 

a  thousand  times  greater.     Its  waters,  as  far  out  from  the 

Gulf  as  the  Carolina  coasts,  are  of  an  indigo  blue ;  they 

are    so  distinctly  marked    that     their    line     of   junction 

with  the  common  sea-water  may  be  traced  by  the    eye. 

Often  one-pialf  of  a  vessel    may   be   perceived    floating  in 

Gulf_^tream  water,   while  the  other  half   is    in  common 

water  of  the  sea,  so  sharp  is  the  line  and  such  the  want  of 

aflinity  between  those  waters,  and  such  too  the  reluctance, 

so  to  speak,  on  the  part  of   those    of    the    Gulf  Stream   to 

mingle  with  the  common  water  of  the  sea." 

This  curious  phenomenon  in  the  physical  world   has  its 

counterpart  in  the  moral.     There  is  a  lonely   river  in  the 

midst  of  the  ocean  of  mankind.     The  mightiest  floods  of 

human  temptation  have  never  caused   it   to    overflow  and 

the  fiercest  fires   of  human    cruelty,    though   seven    times 

heated   in   the  furnace    of   religious  bigotry,    have    never 

caused  it  to  dry  up,  although  its  waves   for   two  thousand 

years  have  rolled  crimson  with  the  blood   of  its    martyrs. 

Its  fountain  is  in  the  grey   dawn   of    the    world's    history, 

and  its  mouth  is  somewhere  in  the  shadows  of  eternity.     It 

25 


370  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

too  refuses  to  mingl'e  with  the  surrounding  waves,  and  the 
line  which  divides  its  restless  billows  from  the  common 
waters  of  humanity  is  also  plainly  visible  to  the  eye.  It 
is  the  Jewish  race. 

The  Jew  is  beyond  doubt  the  most  remarkable  man  of 
this  world — past  or  present.  Of  all  the  stories  of  the  sons 
of  men,  there  is  none  so  wild,  so  wonderful,  so  full  of 
extreme  mutation,  so  replete  with  suffering  and  horror,  so 
abounding  in  extraordinary  providences,  so  overflowing 
with  scenic  romance.  There  is  no  man  who  approaches 
him  in  the  extent  and  character  of  the  influence  which  he 
has  exercised  over  the  human  family.  His  history  is  the 
history  of  our  civilization  and  progress  in  this  world,  and 
our  faith  and  hope  in  that  which  is  to  come.  From  him 
have  we  derived  the  form  and  pattern  of  all  that  is  excel- 
I  lent  on   earth   or    in   heaven.     If,   as  DeQuincv  says,  the 

Roman  Emperors,  as  the  great  accountants  for  the  happi 
ness  of  more  men  and  men  more  cultivated  than  ever  before 
were  entrusted  to  the  motions  of  a  single  will,  had  a 
special,  singular, and  mysterious  relation  to  the  secret  coun- 
cils of  heaven — thrice  truly  may  it  be  said  of  the  Jew. 
Palestine,  his  home,  was  the  central  chamber  of  God's 
administration.  He  was  at  once  the  grand  usher  to  these 
glorious  courts,  the  repository  of  the  councils  of  the 
Almighty,  and  the  envoy  of  the  divine  mandates  to  the 
consciences  of  men.  He  was  the  priest  and  faith-giver  to 
mankind,  and  as  such,  in  spite  of  the  jibe  and  jeer,  he  must 
ever  be  considered  as  occupying  a  peculiar  and  sacred  rela- 
tion to  all  other  peoples  of  this  world.  Even  now,  though 
the  Jews  have  long  since  ceased  to  exist  as  a  consolidated 
nation,  inhabiting  a  common  country,  and  for  eighteen 
hundred  years  have  been  scattered  far  and  near  over  the 
wide  earth,  their  strange  customs,  their  distinct  features, 
i(\f<.\  personal  peculiarities^.and  their  scattered  lonfy^  make  them 
still  a  wonder  and  an  astonishment. 

Though  dead  as  a  nation — as  we  speak  of  nations — they 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  371 

yet  live.  Their  ideas  fill  the  world  and  move  the  wheels 
of  its  progress,  even  as  the  sun,  when  he  sinks  behind  the 
Western  hills,  yet  fills  the  heavens  with  the  remnants  of  his 
glory.  As  the  destruction  of  matter  in  one  form  is  made 
necessary  to  its  resurrection  in  another,  so  it  would  seem 
that  the  perishing  of  the  Jewish  nationality  was  in  order 
to  the  universal  acceptance  and  the  everlasting  establish- 
ment of  Jewish  ideas.  Never  before  was  there  an  instance 
of  such  a  general  rejection  of  the  person  and  character,  and 
acceptance  of  the  doctrines  and  dogmas  of  a  people. 

We  admire  with  unlimited  admiration  the  Greek  and 
Roman,  but  reject  with  contempt  his  crude  and  beastly 
divinities.  We  afTect  to  despise  the  Jew,  but  accept  and 
adore  the  pure  conception  of  a  God  which  he  taught  us, 
and  whose  real  existence  the  history  of  the  Jew  more  than 
all  else  establishes.  When  the  Court  Chaplain  of  Frederick 
the  Great  was  asked  by  that  bluff  monarch  for  a  brief  and 
concise  summary  of  the  argument  in  support  of  the  truths 
of  Scripture,  he  instantly  replied,  with  a  force  to  which 
nothing  could  be  added,  "The  Jews,  Your  Majesty,  the  Jews." 

I  propose  briefly  to  glance  at  their  history,  origin  and 
civilization,  peculiarities,  present  condition  and  probable 
destiny.  "-"^"1 

"A  people  of  Semitic  race,"  says  the  Encyclopaedia, 
"whose  ancestors  appear  at  the  very  dawn  of  the  history 
of  mankind,  on  the  banks  of  Euphrates,  the  Jordan. and 
the  Nile,  their  fragments  are  now  to  be  seen  in  larger  or 
smaller  numbers,  in  almost  all  of  the  cities  of  the  globe, 
from  Batavia  to  New  Orleans,  from  Stockholm  to  Cape 
Town.  When  little  more  numerous  than  a  family,  they 
had  their  language,  customs^and  peculiar  observances* 
treated  with  princesiand  in  every  respect  acted  as  a  nation. 
Though  broken,  as  if  into  atoms,  and  scattered  through  all 
climes,  among  the  rudest  and  the  most  civilized  nations, 
they  have  preserved,  through  thousands  of  years,  common 
features  and   observances,   a    common   religion,    literature 


372  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

and  sacred  language.  Without  any  political  union,  with- 
out any  common  head  or  centre,  they  are  generally 
regarded  and  regard  themselves  as  a  nation.  They  began 
as  nomads,  emigrating  from  country  to  countr)- ;  their  law- 
made  them  agriculturists  for  fifteen  centuries ;  their  exile 
transformed  them  into  a  mercantile  people.  They  have 
struggled  for  their  national  existence  against  the  Egyp- 
tians, Ass3^rians,  Babylonians,  Syrians^  and  Romans  g  have  _ 
been  conquered  and  nearly  exterminated  by  each  of  these 
powers  r- and  have  survived  them  all.  They  have  been 
oppressed  and  persecuted  by  Emperors  and  Republics,  by 
Sultans  and  by  Popes,^oors  and  Inquisitors ;  they  were 
proscribed  in  Catholic  Spain,  Protestant  Norway.and  Greek 
Muscovy,  while  their  persecutors  sang  the  hymns  of  their 
psalmody,  revered  their  books,  believed  in  their  prophets  y 
and  even  persecuted  them  in  the  name  of  their  God. 
They  have  numbered  philosophers  among  the  Greeks  of 
Alexandria*  and  the  Saracens  of  Cordova^  have  trans- _ 
planted  the  wisdom  of  the  East  beyond  the  Pyrenees  and 
the  Rhine,  and  have  been  treated  as  pariahs  among 
Pagans,  Mahommedans^and  Christians.  They  have  fought 
for  liberty  under  Kosciusko  and  Blucheri  and  popular 
assemblies  among  the  Sclavi  and   Germans^,  still  withheld. 


from  them  the  right  of  living   in  certain  towns,    villages 
and  streets." 

Whilst  no  people  can  claim  such  an  unmixed  purity  of 
blood,  certainly  none  can  establish  such  antiquity  of  origin, 
such  unbroken  generations  of  descent.  That  splendid 
passage  of  Macaulay  so  often  quoted,  in  reference  to  the 
Roman  Pontiffs,  loses  its  force  in  sight  of  Hebrew  history. 
"No  other  institution,"  says  he,  "is  left  standing  which  carries 
the  mind  back  to  the  times  when  the  smoke  of  sacrifice  rose 
from  the  Pantheon,  and  when  -cam-els-,  leopards^  and  tigers 
Uf  t\'i<^'^ -"bounded  in  the  Il^rtan  amphitheatre.  The  proudest  royal 
'  houses  are  but  of  yesterday  afe  compared  with  the  line  of  the 

Supreme  Pontiffsi  (liat  line  we  trace  back  in^mbroken    ^j^ 


/t7j>^  \y^ 


I 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  373 

lilies,  from  the  Pope  who  crowned  Napoleon  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  to  the  Pope  who  crowned  Pepin  in  the 
eighth,*  and  far  beyoncL^epin.  the  august  dynasty  extends^  \*" 

until  it  is  lost  in  the  twilight  oTTaBTe.  The  Republic  of 
Venice  canie  next  in  antiquity^  tut  the  Republic  of  Venice  yO 

^^^  J^  moderii^compared  with  the  Papac)-,*  and  the  Republic  of  ^ 

Venice  is  gone^and   the   Papacy  remains,  yv^The  Catholic  

Church  was  great  and  respected  before  the  Saxon  had  set 

foot  on  Britain,  before  the   Fralik  had  passed  the   Rhine, 

when  Grecian   eloquence  still  flourished  at  Antioch,   when  / 

idols  were  still  worshipped   in  the  Temple  at  Mecca^..a»4— —    «    ^^ 

she   may  still  _exist^  in    undiminished   vigor  when    some 

traveller  from  New  Zealand^n  the  midst  of  a  vast  solitude  j,  /•"^■A^ 

fitai^take  his  stand  on  a  broken  arch  of  London  Bridge  to 

sketch  the  ruins  of  St  Saw^."       This  is  justly  esteemed  one  ^ 

of  the  most  eloquent  passages  in  our  literature,  but  I  sub-  ^'* 

mit  it  is  not  history. 

The  Jewish  people,  church  and  institutions  are  still  left 
standing,  though  the  stones  of  the  temple  remain  no  longer 
one  upon  the  other,  though  its  sacrificial  fires  are  forever 
extinguished  |  and  though  the  tribes,  whose  glory  it  was, 
wander  with  weary  feet  throughout  the  earth.  And  what 
is  the  line  of  Roman  Pontiffs  compared  to  that  splendid 
dynasty  of  the  successors  of  Aaron  and  Levi?  "The  twilight 
of  fable,"  in  which  the  line  of  Pontiffs  began,  was  but  the 
noonday  brightness  of  the  Jewish  priesthood.  Tlieir  insti- 
tution carries  the  mind  back  to  the  age  when  the  prophet, 
in  rapt  mood,  stood  over  Babylon  and  uttered  God's  wrath 
against  that  grand  and  wondrous  mistress  of  the  Euplira- 
tean    plains-j/?-when    the    Memphian    chivalry    still   gave 

precedence  to  the  chariots  and  horsemen  who  each  morning 

poured  forth  from  the  brazen  gates  of  the  abode  of  Amnion; 
when  Tyre  and  Sidon  were  yet  building  their  palaces  by 
the  sea,  and  Carthage,  their  greatest  daughter,  w^as  yet 
unborn.  That  dynasty  of  proj)hetic  priests  existed  even 
before  Clio's  pen  had  learned  to  record  the  deeds  of  men  / 


i 


374  /         "---^IFE   OF  VANCE. 


and  when  that  splendid,  entombed  civilization  once  lighted 
the    shores    of    the    Erythraean  Sea,     the    banks    of    the 
Eiiphrates^nd  the  plains  of  Shinar^with  a  glory  incon^^  .^ 
ceivable,  of  which  there  is  nought  now  to  tell,   excepf  the 
dumb  eloquence  of  ruined  temples  and  buried  cities/  ~    vl 

Then,  too,  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  Pontiffs 
were  but  Gentiles  in  the  garb  of  Jews,  imitating  their 
whole  routine.  All  Christian  churches  are  but  off-shoots 
from  or  grafts  upon  the  old  'Jewish  stock.  vStrike  out  all 
of  Judaism  from  the  Christian  church  and  there  remains 
nothing  but  an  unmeaning  superstition. 

The  Christian  is  simply  the  successor  of  the  Jew — the 
glory  of  the  one  is  likewise  the  glory  of  the  other.  The 
Savior  of  the  world  was,  after  the  flesh,  a  Jew — born  of  a 
Jewish  maiden ;  so  likewise  were  all  of  the  apostles  and 
first  propagators  of  Christianity.  The  Christian  religion 
is  equally  Jewish  with  that  of  Moses  and  the  prophets. 

I  am  not  unaware  of  the  fact  that  other  people  besides 
the  Semites  had  a  conception  of  the  true  God  long  before 
He  was  revealed  to  Abraham.  The  Hebrew  Scriptures 
themselves  testify  this,  and  so  likewise  do  the  books  of 
the  very  oldest  of  written  records.  The  fathers  of 
the  great  x\ryan  race,  the  shepherds  of  Iran  had  so  vivid 

a  conception  of  the  unity  of  God^^as  to  give  rise  to  the ^ 

opinion  that  they  too  had  once  had  a  direct  revelation.  It  j 
is  more  likely,  however,  that  traditions  of  this  God  had 
descended  among  them  from  the  Deluge  which  ultimately 
became  adulterated  by  polytheistic  imaginings.  It  seems 
natural  that  these  people  of  highly  sensitive  intellects, 
dwelling  beneath  the  serene  skieS|  that  impend  over  tjie  r 
plains  and  mountains  of  Southwestern  Asia,  tliickry  stud- 
ded with  the  calm  and  glorious  stars,  should  mistake  these 
most  majestic  emblems  of  the  Creator  for  the  Creator  himself. 
Hence,  no  doubt,  arose  the  worship  of  light  and  fire  by  the 
Iratnians,  and  Sabceanism  or  star  worship  by  the  Chaldeans. 
But  the  better  opinion  of  learned  orientalists  is  that  while 


'/ 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  375 

the  outward  or  exoteric  doctrine  taught  the  worship  of  the 
symbols,  the  esoteric  or  secret  doctrines  of  Zoroastes,  ^his  <^ 
predecessors  and  disciples,  taught  in  fact  the  worship  of 
the  Principle^  tJic  First  Cause ^  the  Great  [hiknoivn^  the 
Universal  Intelligence^  Magdani  or  God.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  Abraham  brought  this  monotheistic  concep- 
tion with  him  from  Chaldea  ;  but  notwithstanding  this 
dim  traditional  light,  which  was  abroad  outside  of  the  race 
of  Shem,  perhaps  over  the  entire  breadth  of  that  splendid 
prehistoric  civilization  of  the  Arabian  Cushite,  yet^or  the 
more  perfect  light,  wdiich  revealed  to  us  God  and  His 
attributes,  we  are  unquestionably  indebted  to  the  Jew. 

We  owe  to  him,  if  not  the  conception,  at  least  the  pres- 
ervation of  pure  monotheism.  For  whether  this  knowl- 
edge was  original  with  these   eastern  people  or  traditional 

merely,   it  was  speedily  lost|__by__an_of^  tl^^ilL-^iSc^pt  the    X^ 

Jews.     Whilst  an  unintelligent  use  of  symbolism  enveloped  1 

the  central  figure  with  a  cloud  of  idolatry  and  led  the 
Magi  to  the  worship  of  Light  and  Fire,  the  Sabean  to  the 
adoration  of  the  heavenly  host,   the  Egyptian   to   bowing 

'        down  before  I^is  and  Osiris,  the  Carthagj^nian   to  the  pro-       /i- / 
pitiation  of   Baal  and   Astarte   by  human  sacrifice-and  the  / 

subtle  Greek  to  the  deification  of  the  varied  laws  or  Nature/ 
the  bearded  Prophets  of  Israel  were  ever  thundering  forth, 
"Know  O,  Israel,  that  the  Lord  thy  God  is  one  God,  and 
Him  only  shalt  thou  serve." 

Even  his  half-brother  Ishmael,  after  an  idolatrous  sleep 
of  centuries,  awoke  with  a  sharp  and  bloody  protest  against 

[^..-^olytheism,  and  established  the  unity  of  God  as  the  corner- 
stone of  his  faith.  In  this  respect  the  influence  which  the 
Jew  has  exercised  over  the  destinies  of  mankind  place  Jiim 
Y  before  all  the  men  of  this  world.  For  in  this  idea  of  God, 
all  of  the  faith  and  creeds  of  the  dominant  peoples  of  the 
earth  centre.  It  divides  like  a  great  mountain  range  the 
civilizations  of  the  ancient  and  modern  worlds.  Many  en- 
lightened men  of  antiquity  acknowledge  the  beauty  of  this 


i 


y 


376  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

conception,  though  they  did  not  embrace  it.  Socrates  did 
homage  to  it,  and  Josephus  declares  that  he  derived  his 
sublime  ideal  from  the  Jewish  Scripures.  The  accomplished 
Tacitus  seemed  to  grasp  it,  as  the  following  passage  will 
show.  In  speaking  of  the  Jews  and  in  contrasting  them  with 
the  Egyptians,  he  says:  "With  regard  to  the  Deity,  their 
creed  is  different.  The  Egyptians  worship  various  animals 
and  also  certain  symbolical  representatives  wdiich  are  the 
work  of  man.  The  Jews  acknowledge  one  God  only,  and 
Him  they  see  in  the  mind's  eye,  and  Him  they  adore  in 
contemplation,  condemning  as  impious  idolaterSjall  who, 
with  perishable  materials  wrought  into  the  humanlonn^^T 
attempt  to  give  a  representation  of  the  Deity.  The  God  of 
the  Jews  is  the  great  governing  mind  that  directs  and 
guides  the  whole  frame  of  nature — eternal,  infinite ^and 
neither  capable  of  change^r  subject  to  decay." 

This  matchless  and  eloquent  definition  of  the  Deity  has 
never  been  improved  upon,  but  it  seems  that  it  made  slight 
impression  upon  the  philosophical  historian's  mind.  i\nd 
yet  what  a  contrast  it  is  with  his  own  coarse,  material  gods ! 
Indeed  the  rejection  or  ignorance  of  this  pure  conception  by 
the  acute  and  refined  intellects  of  the  mrrh'Tivnl  ancients 
strikes  us  with  wonder,  and  illustrates  the  truthj that  no  man_ 
by  searching  can  find  out  God.  I  am  not  unaware  that  the 
Arabian  idea  of  Deity  received  many  modifications  from 
the  conceptions  of  adjoining  and  contemporary  nations — 
by  cross-fertilization  of  ideas,  as  the  process  has  been  called. 
From  the  Egyptians  and  Assyrians  were  received  many  of 
these  modifications,  but  the  chief  impression  was  from  the 
Greeks.  The  general  effect  was  to  broaden  and  enlarge 
the  original  idea,  whose  tendency  was  to  regard  the  Su- 
preme Beiug  as  a  tribal  Deity,  into  the  grander,  universal 
God,  or  Father  of  all.  If  time  permitted  it  would  be  a  most 
interesting  study  to  trace  the  action  and  reaction  of 
Semitic  upon  Hellenistic  thought/  Jjlow  Hellenistic  phil- 
osophy produced  Pharisaism  or  the  progressive  party  of  the 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  377 

Hebrew  Tlieists;  how  Pharisaism  in  turn  produced  Stoicism, 
which  again  prepared  the  way  for  Christianity  itself. 

The  whole  polity  of  the  Jews  was  originally  favorable  to 
agriculture ;  and  though  they  adhered  to  it  closely  for  many 
centuries,  ye^   the  peculiar  facilities  of  their  country  ulti- 

"mately~  forced  them  largely  into  commerce.  The  great 
caravan  routes  from  the  rich  countries  of  the  East,  Mesopo- 
tamia, Shinar,  Babylonia,  Medea,  Assyria.and  Persia,  to  the 
ports  of  the  ]\Iediterranean,  lay  through  Palestine,  whilst 
Spain,  Italy,  Gaul,  Asia  Minor,  •  Northern  Africa,  Egypt, 
and  all  the  riches  that  then  clustered  around  the  shores  of 
the  Great  Sea  and  upon  the  islands  in  its  bosom,  had  easy 
access  to  its  harbors.  In  fact  the  wealth  of  the  New 
World,  its  'civilization,  refinement.and  arLlay  in  concentric 
circles  around  Jerusalem  as  a  focal  point.  The  Jewish  peo- 
ple grew  rich  in  spite  of  themselves  and  gradually  forsook 
their  agricultural  simplicity.  -■««Lir:::| 

But  more  than  all  things  else  their  institutions  interest  I  /)vc--^ 
mankind.  Their  laws  for  the  protection  of  property,  the  f 
enforcement  of  industry^  and  the  upholding  of  the  State 
were  such  as  afforded  the  strongest  impulse  to  personal 
freedom  and  national  vigor.  The  great  principle  of  their 
real  estate  laws  was  the  inalienability  of  the  land.  Houses 
in  walled  towns  might  be  sold  in  perpetuity,  if  unredeemed 
within  the  year;  land  only  for  a  limited  period.  At  the 
year  of  Jubilee  every  estate  reverted  without  repurchase  to 
the  original  owners,  and  even  during  this  period  it  might 
be  redeemed  by  paying  the  value  of  the  purchase  of  the 
year  which  intervened  until  the  Jubilee.  Little  as  we  may 
now  be  disposed  to   value   this   remarkable  ^|f*farian  law,  ^ 

says  Dean  jMilman,  it  secured  the  political  equality  of  the 
people  and  anticipated  all  the  mischiefs  so  fatal  to  the  early 

Republics   of  Greece  and   Italy,   the  appropriation  of  the 
whole  territory  of  the  State,  by  a  rich  and  powerful  landed         -tT/ 
oligarchy,  with  the  consequent  convulsing  of  the  commun-  / 

it}'  from  the  deadly  struggles  between  the  patrician  and  the 


378  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

plebeian  orders.  In  the  Hebrew  state  the  improvident 
man  might  indeed  reduce  himself  and  his  family  to  penury 
or  servitude,  but  he  could  not  perpetuate  a  race  of  slaves  or 
paupers.  Every  fifty  years  God  the  King  and  Lord  of  the 
soil,  as  it  were,  resumed  the  whole  territory  and  granted  it 
back  in  the  same  portions  to  the  descendants  of  the  original 
possessors. 

It  is  curious  to  observe,  continues  the  same  author,  in 
this  earliest  practicable  Utopia,  the  realization  of  Machia- 
velli's  great  maxim,  the  constant  renovation  of  a  state, 
according  to  the  first  principles  of  its  constitution,  a  maxim 
recognized  by  our  own  statesmen,  which  they  designate  as 
a  "frequent  recurrence  to  "tKi&  first  principles  "  How  little 
we  learn  that  is  new.  The  civil  polity  of  the  Jews  is  so 
/  p  ultimatfeU-  blended  historically  with  the  ecclesiastical  that 
/  the  former  is  not  easily  comprehended  by  the  ordinary  stu- 
dent. Their  scriptures  relate  principally  to  the  latter,  and  to 
obtain  a  knowledge  of  the  other,  resort  must  be  had  to  the 
Talmud  and  the  Rabinical  expositions,  a  task  that  few 
men  will  let  themselves  to,  who  hope  to  do  anything  else 
in  this  world.  Yet  a  little  study  will  repay  richly  the  political 
student,  by  showing  him  the  origin  of  many  excellent  semi- 
nal principles  which  we  regard  as  modern.  Their  govern- 
ment was  in  form  a  theocratic  democracy.  God  was  not 
only  their  spiritual  but  their  temporal  sovereign  also,  who 
promulgated  his  laws  by  the  mouths  of  his  inspired  pro- 
phets. Hence  their  terrible  and  unflagging  denunciations 
of  all  forms  of  idolatry — it  was  not  only  a  sin  against  pure 
religion,  but  it  was  treason  also.  In  most  other  particu- 
lars there  was  a  democracy  far  purer  than  that  of  Athens. 
The  very  important  principle  of  the  separation  of  the 
functions  of  government  was  recognized.  The  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  departments  were  kept  apart,  the  civil  ruler 
exercised  no  ecclesiastic  functions  and  vice  versa.  When, 
as  sometimes  happened,  the  two  functions  rested  in  the 
same   man,  they  were  yet  exercised   differenth',  as  was  not 


0 

\ 


LIFE   OF  VANCE. 


long  since  our  custom  in  the  administration  of  equity  as 
contra-distinguished  from  law. 

Their  organic  law  containing  the  elements  of  their  polity, 
though  given  by  God  Himself,  was  yet  required  to  be 
solemnly  ratified  by  the  whole  people.  This  was  done  on 
Ebal  and  CoiVuBgim  and  is  perhaps  the  first,  as  it  is  certainly 
the  grandest  constitutional  convention  ever  held  amonof 
men.  On  these  two  lofty  mountains,  separated  by  a  deep 
and  narrow  ravine,  all  Israel,  comprising  three  millions  of 
souls,  were  assembled;  elders,  prophets,  priests,  v/omen  and 
children,  and  600,000  warriors,  led  by  the  spears  of  Judah 
and  supported  by  the  archers  of  Benjamin.  In  this  mighty 
presence,  surrounded  by  the  sublime  accessiofts  to  the 
grandeur  of  the  same,  the  law  was  read  by  the  Levites,  line 
by  line,  item  by  item,  whilst  the  tribes  on  either  height 
signified  their  acceptance  thereof  by  responsive  aniens, 
which  pierced  the  heavens.  Of  all  the  great  principles 
established  for  the  happiness  and  good  government  of  our 
race,  though  hallowed  by  the  blood  of  the  bravest  and  the 
best,  and  approved  by  centuries  of  trial,  no  one  had  a 
grander  origin,  or  a  more  glorious  exemplification  than  this 
one,  that  all  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed. 

So  much  for  their  organic  law.  Their  legislation  upon 
the  daily  exigencies  and  development  of  their  society  was 
also  provided  for  on  the  most  radically  democratic  basis, 
with  the  practical  element  of  representation.  The  Sanhe- 
drim legislated  for  all  ecclesiastical  affairs.and  had  also 
original  judicial  powers  and  jurisdiction  over  all  offences 
against  the  religious  law,  and  appellate  jurisdiction  of  many 
other  offences.  It  was  the  principal  body  of  their  polity, 
as  religion  was  the  principal  object  of  their  constitution.  It 
was  thoroughly  representative.  Local  and  municipal 
government  was  fully  recognized.  The  legislation  for  a 
city  was  done  by  the  elders  thereof,  the  protot}-pes  in  name 
and  character  of  our  eldermen  or  aldermen. 


380  LIFE   OF  VANCF. 

They  were  the  keystone  of   the  whole  social  fabric,  and 
0  so  directly  represented  the  people^  that  the  terms    "elders 

and  people"  are  often  used  as  synonymous.  The  legisla- 
tion for  a  tribe  was  done  by  the  princes  of  that  tribe,  and, 
the  heads  of  families  thereof ;  whilst  the  elders  of  all  the 
cities,  heads  of  all  the  families  and  princes  of  all  the  tribes 
when  assembled,  constituted  the  National  Legislature,  or 
congregation.  The  functions  of  this  representative  body, 
however,  were  gradually  usurped  and  absorbed  by  the 
Sanhedrim. 

So  thoroughly  recognized  was  the  principle  of  represen- 
tation that  no  man  exercised  any  political  rights  in  his 
individual  capacity,  but  only  as  a  member  of  the  house, 
which  was  the  basis  of  the  Hebrew  polity.  The  ascending 
scale  was  the  family  or  collection  of  houses,  the  tribe  or 
collection  of  families-and  the  congregation  or  collection  of 
tribes. 

fThe  Kingdom  thus  composed  was  in  fact  a  confedera- 
tion, and  exemplified  both  its  strength  and  its  weakness. 
The  tribes  were  equal  and  sovereign  within  the  sphere  of 
their  individual  concerns.  A  tribe  could  convene  its  own 
legislative  body  at  pleasure ;  so  could  any  number  of  tribes 
convene  a  joint  body  whose  enactments  were  binding  only 
upon  the  tribes  represented  therein.  A  single  tribe  or  any 
number  combined  could  make  treaties,  form  alliancesymd 
wage  war,  whilst  the  others  remained  at  peace  with  the 
enemy  of  their  brethren.  They  were  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  independent  States,  joined  together  for  common 
objects  on  the  principle  of  federal  republics,  with  a  general 
government  of  delegated  and  limited  powers.  Within  their 
tribal  boundaries  their  sovereignty  was  absolute  minus  only 
the  powers  granted  to  the  central  agent.  They  elected 
their  chiefs,  generals„and  kings.  Next  to  the  imperative 
necessity  of  common  defense  their  bond  of  union  was  their 
divine  constitution,  one  religion  and  one  blood.  Justice 
was  made  simple  and  was  administered   cheaply.     Among 


LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

no  people  in  this  world  did  the  law  so  recognize  the  dignity 
and  sacred  nature  of  man  made  in  the  image  of  God  and 
the  creature  of  his  especial  covenanting  care. 

The  constitution  of  their  criminal  courts  and  their  code 
of  criminal  laws  was  most  remarkable.  The  researches  of 
the  learned  have  failed  to  discover  in  all  antiquity  anything 
so  explicit,  so  humane,  and  embracing  so  many  of  what 
are  now  considered  the  essential  elements  of  enlightened 
jurisprudence.  Only  four  offenses  were  punished  by  death. 
By  English  law,  no  longer  ago  than  the  reign  of  George 
I.,  more  than  150  offenses  were  so  punishable!  The  court 
for  the  trial  of  these  capital  offenders  was  the  local  Sanhe- 
drim, composed  of  twenty-three  members,  who  were  both 
judges  and  jurors,  prosecuting  attorneys  and  counsel  for  the 
accused. 

The  tests  applied  both  to  them  and  the  accusing  wit- 
nesses, as  to  capacity  and  impartiality,  were  more  rigid 
than  those  known  to  exist  any  jvhere  else  in  the  world. 
The  whole  procedure  was  so  guarded  as  to  convey  the  idea 
that  the  first  object  was  to  save  the  criminal. 

From  the  first  step  of  the  accusation  to  the  last  moment 
preceding  final  execution,  no  caution  was  neglected,  no 
solemnity  was  omitted,  that  might  aid  the  prisoner's 
acquittal.  No  man  in  any  way  interested  in  the  result,  no 
gamester  of  any  kind,  no  usurer,  no  store  dealer,  no  relative 
of  accused  or  accuser,  no  seducer  or  adulterer,  no  man 
without  a  fixed  trade  or  business,  could  sit  on  that  court. 
Nor  could  any  aged  man  whose  infirmities  might  make 
him  harsh,  nor  any  childless  man  or  bastard,  as  being 
insensible  to  the  relations  of  parent  and  child. 

Throughout  the  whole  system  of  the  Jewish  government 
there  ran  a  broad,  genuine^nd  refreshing  stream  of  demo- 
cracy, such  as  the  world  then  knew  little  of,  and  has  since 
but  little  improved.  For  of  course  the  political  student  will 
not  be  deceived  by  names.  It  matters  not  what  their 
chief  magistrates  and  legislators  were  called,  if  in  fact  and 


382  /  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 


/ 


in  substance/  their  forms  were  eminent! 5'  democratic. 
Masters  of  political  philosophy  tell  ns — and  tell  us  with 
truth — that  power  in  a  State  must  and  will  reside  with 
those  who  own  the  soil.  If  the  land  belonofs  to  a  kine  the 
government  is  a  despotism,  though  every  man  in  it  voted; 
if  the  land  belongs  to  a  select  few,  it  is  an  aristocracy;  but 
if  it  belongs  to  the  many,  it  is  a  democracy,  for  here  is  the 
division  of  power.  Now,  where,  either  in  the  ancient  or 
modern  world,  will  you  find  such  a  democracy  as  that  of 
Israel  ?  For  where  was  there  ever  such  a  perfect  and  con- 
tinuing division  of  the  land  among  the  people  ?  It  was 
impossible  for  this  power  ever  to  be  concentrated  in  the 
hands  of  one  or  a  select  few.  The  lands  belonged  to  God 
as  the  head  of  the  Jewish  nation — the  right  of  eminent 
domain,  so  to  speak,  was  in  Him — and  the  people  were 
His  tenants. 

The  year  of  Jubilee,  as  we  have  seen,  came  ever  in  time 
to  blast  the  schemes  of  the  ambitious  and  designing.   __ 

-Their  law  provided  for  no  standing  army^  IfHe  common 
defense  wa!Hntrusted  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people,  who 
kept  and  bore  arms  at  will,  and  believing  that  their  hills 
and  valleys  would  be  best  defended  by  footmen,  the  use  of 
cavalry  was  forbidden,  lest  it  should  tend  to  feed  the  pas- 
sion for  foreign  conquest. 

The  ecclesiastical  Sanhedriniy  as  before  observed,  was 
the  principal  body  of  their  polity^  ^tS'^embers  were  com- 
posed of  the  wisest  and  most  learned  of  their  people,  who 
expounded  and  enforced  the  law  and  surpervised  all  the  in- 
ferior courts.  This  exposition  upon  actual  cases  arising 
did  not  suffice  the  learned  doctors,  who  made  the  great 
mistake  which  modern  courts  have  learned  to  avoid,  of 
uttering  their  dicta  in  anticipated  cases.  These  decisions 
and  dicta  constitute  the  ground  work  of  the  Talmuds,  of 
which  there  are  two  copies  extant.  They  constitute  the 
most  remarkable  collection  of  oriental  wisdom,  ^bstruse 
learning,  piety,  blasphemy, and  obscenity  ever  got  together 


'S 


oUi 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  383 

in  the  world  ;  and  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  Jewish 
law,  which  our  judicial  decisions  do  to  our  statute  law. 
Could  they  be  disentombed  from  the  mass  of  rubbish  by 
which  they  are  covered — said  to  be  so  great  as  to  deter  all 
students  who  are  not  willing  to  devote  a  life-time  to  the 
task,  from  entering  upon  their  study — they  would  no  doubt 
be  of  inestimable  value  to  theologians,  by  furnishing  all 
the  aids  which  cotemporaneous  construction  must  ever  im- 
part. 

Time  would  not  permit  me,  if  I  had  the  power,  to 
describe  the  chief  city  of  the  Jews,  their  religious  and 
political  capital — "  Jerusalem  the  Holy" — "  the  dwelling 
of  peace."  In  the  days  of  Jewish  prosperity  it  was  in  all 
things  a  fair  type  of  this  strange  country  and  people. 
Enthroned  upon  the  hills  of  Judah,  overflowing  with  riches, 
the  free-will  offerings  of  a  devoted  people-ttdecked  with 
the  barbaric  splendor  of  eastern  taste,  it  was  the  rival  in 
power  and  wondrous  beauty  of  the  most  magnificent  cities 
of  antiquity.  Nearly  everyone  of  her  great  competitors 
have  mouldered  into  dust.  The  bat  and  the  owl  inhabit 
their  towers,  and  the  fox  litters  her  young  in  the  corridors 
of  their  palaces,  but  Jerusalem  still  sits  in  solitary  grandeur 
upon  the  lonely  hills,  and  though  faded,  feeble^and  ruinous^ 
still  towers  in  moral  splendor  above  all  the  spires  and 
domes  and  pinnacles  ever  erected  by  human  hands.  Nor 
can  I  dwell,  tempting  as  is  the  theme,  upon  the  scenery, 
the  glowing  landscapes,  the  cultivated  fields,  gardens  and 
vineyards  and  gurgling  fountains  of  that  pleasant  land. 
Many  high  summits  and  even  one  of  the  towers  in  the 
walls  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem  were  said  to  have  afforded  a 
perfect  view  of  the  whole  land  from  border  to  border.  I 
must  be  content  with  asking  you  to  imagine  what  a  divine 
prospect  would  burst  upon  the  vision  from  the  summit  of 
that  stately  tower  ;  and  picture  the  burning  sands  of  the 
desert  far  beyond  the  mysterious  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea 
on  the  one  hand,  and   the   shiniufr  waves  of    the  crreat  sea 


n 


'/ 


384  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

on  the  other,  flecked  with  the  white  sails  of  the  Tyrian  ships, 
whilst  hoary  Lebanon,  crowned  with  its  diadem  of  perpetual 
snow»g-littered  in  the  morning  light  like  a  dome  of  fire  tem- 
pered with  the  emerald  of  its  cedars — a  fillet  of  glory  around  its  . 
brow.  The  beauty  of  that  band  of  God's  people,  the  charm 
of  their  songs,  the  comeliness  of  their  maidens,  the  celestial 
peace  of  their  homes,  the  romance  of  their  national  history, 
and  the  sublimity  of  their  faith,  so  entice  me,  that  I  would  not 
know  when  to  cease,  should  I  once  enter  upon  their  story. 
I  must  leave  behind,  too,  the  blood-stained  record  of  their 
last  great  seige,  illustrated  by  their  splendid  but  unavailing 
courage; ^heir  fatal  dissensions  and  final  destruction,  with 
all  its  incredible  horrors;  of  their  exile  and  slavery,  of  their 
dispersion  in  all  lands  and  kingdoms,  of  their  persecutions, 
sufferings,  wanderings,  and  despair,^_fo£  eighteen  hundred  J 
years.  Indeed,  it  is  a  story  that  puts  to  shame  not  only  our 
Christianity,  but  our  common  humanity.  It  staggers  belief 
to  be  told,  not  only  that  such  things  could  be  done  at  all, 
by  blinded  heathen  or  ferocious  Pagan,  but  done  by 
Christian  people  and  in  the  name  of  Him,  the  meek  and 
lowly,  who  was  called  the  Prince  of  Peacej^and  the  harbinger 
of  good  will  to  men.^  Still  it  is  an  instructive  story;  it 
seems  to  mark  in  colors  never  to  be  f orgotten^^  both  the_ 
wickedness  and  the  folly  of  intolerance.  Truly,  it  serves 
to  show  that  the  wrath  of  a  religious  bigot  is  more  fearful 
and  ingenious  than  the  crudest  of  tortures  hatched  in  the 
councils  of  hell.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  comment  upon 
the  religion  of  the  Jews,  nor  shall  I  undertake  to  say  that 
they  gave  no  cause  in  the  earlier  ages  of  Christianity  for  the 
hatred  of  their  opponents.  Undoubtedly  they  gave  much 
cause,  and  exhibited  themselves  much  bitterness  and  ferocity- 
towards  the  followers  of  the  Nazarine;  which^iowever^^jJ;_ 
may  be  an  excuse,  is  far  from  being  a  justification  of  the 
centuries  of  horror  which  followed.  But  if  constancy, 
faithfulness. and  devotion  to  principle  under  the  most  trying 
circumstances  to  which  the    children  of  men    were   ever 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  385- 

subjected,  be  considered  virtues,  then  indeed  are  the  Jews  to 
be  admired.  They  may  safely  defy  the  rest  of  mankind  to 
show  such  undying  adherence  to  accepted  faith,  such 
wholesale  sacrifice  for  conscience*  sake.  For  it  they  have 
in  all  ages  given  up  home  and  country,  wives  and  children, 
gold  and  goods,  ease  and  shelter  and  life;  for  it  they  endured 
all  the  evils  of  an  infernal  wrath  for  eighteen  centuries;  for 
it  they  have  endured,  and — say  what  you  will — endured 
with  an  inexpressible  manhood^^that  which  no  other  portion 
of  the  human  family  ever  have,^or,''iirmy  opinion,  ever  . 
would  have^endured.  For  sixty  generations  the  heritage 
which  the  Father  left  the  son  was  misery,  suffering,  shame  ^ 
and  despair;  and  that  son  preserved  and  handed  down  to  his 
son^  that  black  heritage  as  a  golden  heir-loom,  y^-r  the  sake 
of  God. 

A  few  remarks  upon  their  numbers  and  present  status  in 
the  world,  their  peculiarities  and  probable  destiny,  and  my 
task  will  be  done. 

Originally,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Jews  v;ere  an  agricul- 
tural people,  and  their  civil  polity  was  framed  specially  for 
this  state  of  things.  Indeed  the  race  of  Shem  originally 
seemed  not  to  have  been  endowed  with  the  great  commer- 
cial instincts   which   characterize  the  descend^ts  of  Ham      ^ 

and  Japheth.     Their  cities  for  the  most  part^^  were  built  in  p 

the  interior,  remote  from  the  channels  of  trade,  whilst  the 
race  of  Ham  and  Japheth  built  upon  the  sea  shore,^  and  .the_ 
banks  of  great  rivers.  But  the  exile  of  the  Jews  converted 
them  necessarily  into  merchants.  Denied  as  a  general  rule 
citizenship  in  the  land  of  their  refuge,  subject  at  any 
moment  to  spoliation  and  expulsion,  their  only  sure  means 
of  living  was  in  traffic,  in  which  they  soon  became  skilled 
on  the  principles  of  a  specialty  in  labor. 

They  naturally,  therefore,  followed  in  their  dispersion,  as 
they  have  ever  since  done,  the  great  channels  of  commerce 
throughout  the  world,  with  such  deflections  here  and  there 
as  persecution  rendered  necessary.       But  notwithstanding 

26 


.386  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  many  impulses  to  which  their  wanderings  have  been  sub- 
jected, they  have  in  the  main  obeyed  the  general  laws  of 
migration  by  moving  east  and  west  upon  nearly  the  same 
parallels  of  latitude.  Their  numbers  in  spite  of  losses  by 
all  causes,  including  religious  defection,  which,  everything 
considered,  has  been  remarkably  small,  have  steadily 
increased  and  are  now  variously  estimated  at  seven  to  nine 
millions.  They  may  be  divided,  says  Dr.  Pressell,  into 
three  great  classes,  the  enumeration  of  which  will  show  their 
wonderful  dispersion.  The  first  of  these  inhabit  the  interior 
of  x'lfrica,  Arabia,  India,  China,  Turkestan  jand  Bokhara. 
Even  the  Arabs,  Mr.  Disraeli  terms  Jews  upon  horsebackf 
C^  ythey  are^however,  the  sons  of  Ishmael — half-brothers  to  the 
Jews.  These  are  the  lowest  of  the  Jewish  people  in  wealth, 
intelligencCj^and  religion,  though  said  to  be  superior  to  their 
Gentile  neighbors  in  each.  The  second  and  most  numerous 
class  is  found  in  Northern  Africa,  Egypt,  Palestine,  Syria, 
Mesopotamia,  Persia,  Asia  Minor,  European  Turkey,  Poland, 
Rus3ia,^and  parts  of  Austria.  In  these  are  found  the  strictly 
r»/  orthodox,  Talmudical  Jews;  the  sect  Chasidciii,  who  are  the  ^  i 
'1  ""representatives  of  the  Zealots  of  Joseph us^'and'Ihe  small  but  .  / 
/  most  interesting  sect  Karaites,   who  reject  all  Rabb^ical    'U  / 

traditions,  and  are  the  only  Jev/s  who  adhere  to   the   strict        / 
letter  of  the  Scriptures.     This  class  is  represented  as  being 
very  ignorant  of  all  except  Jewish  learning — it  being  pro- 
hibited to  study  any  other.     Yet  they  alone  are  regarded  by 
scholars  as  the  proper  expounders  of  ancient  Talmudical 
Judaism.     As  might  be  inferred  from  the  character   of  the 
governments  under  which  they  live,  their  political  condi- 
tion is  most  unhappy  and  insecure,  and  their  increase  in 
wealth  and  their  social  progress  are  slow.      The  third  and     ^^ 
last  class  are  those  of  Central  and  Western  Europe,  andtlie-""''^ 
United  States.     These  are  by  far  the  most  intelligent  and 
civilized   of  their   race,   not  only  keeping   pace  with    the 
progress  of  their  Gentile  neighbors,  but  contributing  to  it 
largely.     Their  ^rientlal  mysticism  seems  to  have  given 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  387 

place  to  the  stronger  practical  ideas  of  Western  Europe, 
with  which  they  have  come  in  contact,  and  they  have 
embraced  them  full}-.  They  are  denominated  "reforming" 
in  their  tenets,  attemj)ting  to  eliminate  the  Talmudical 
traditions  which  cumber  and  obscure  their  creed,  and  adapt 
it  somewhat  to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  though  in  tearing 
this  away,  they  have  also,  say  the  theologians,  dispensed 
with  much  of  the  Old  Testament  itself.  In  fact,  they  have 
become  simply  Unitarians  or  Deists. 

IJany  curious  facts  concerning  them  are  worthy  to  be 
noted.  In  various  cities  of  the  Eastern  World  they  have 
been  for  ages,  and  in  some  are  yet,  huddled  into  crowded 
and  filthy  streets  or  quarters,  in  a  manner  violative  of  all 
the  rules  of  health;  yet  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that  they  have 
ever  suffered  less  from  pestilential  diseases  than  their  Chris- 
tian neighbors.  So  often  have  the  black  wings  of  epidemic 
plagues  passed  over  them,  and  smitten  all  around  them, 
that  ignorance  and  malignity  frequently  accused  them  of 
poisoning  the  wells  and  fountains  and  of  exercising  sor- 
cery. 

They  have  also  in  a  very  noticeable  degree  been  exempt 
from  consumption  and  all  diseases  of  the  respiratory 
functions,  which  in  them  are  said  by  physicians  to  be 
wonderfully  adapted  to  enduring  the  vicissitudes  of  all 
temperatures  and  climates.  The  average  duration  of 
Gentile  life  is  computed  at  26  years — it  certainly  does  not 
reach  30 ;  that  of  the  Jew,  according  to  a  most  interesting 
table  of  statistics  which  I  have  seen,  is  full  t^j  years.  The 
number  of  infants  born  to  the  married  couple  exceeds  that 
of  the  Gentile  races,  and  the  number  dying  in  infancy  is 
much  smaller.  In  height  they  are  nearly  three  inches 
lower  than  the  average  of  other  races ;  the  width  of  their 
bodies  with  outstretched  arms  is  one  inch  shorter  than  the 
height,  whilst  in  other  races  it  is  eight  inches  longer  on 
the  average.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  length  of  the 
trunk    is    much    greater   with  the  Jew,  in  proportion    to 


388  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

height  than  with  other  races.  In  the  Xec^ro  the  trujik,,--^ 
constitntes  32  per  cent,  of  the  height^  of  the  whole  body, 
in  the  European  34  per  cent.,  in  the  Jew  36  per  cent. 
What  these  physical  peculiarities  have  had  to  do  with  their 
wonderful  preservation  and  steady  increase,  I  leave  for  the 
philosophers  to  explain. 

Their  social  life  is,  if  possible,  still  more  remarkable. 
There  is  neither  prostitution  nor  pauperism,  and  but  little 
abject  poverty  among  them.  They  have  some  paupers,  it 
is  true,  but  they  trouble  neither  you  nor  me.  Crime  in  the 
malignant,  wilful  sense  of  that  word  is  exceedingly  rare.  I 
have  never  known  but  one  Jew  convicted  of  any  offence 
beyond  the  grade  of  a  misdemeanor,  though  I  am  free  to 
saj'j  I  have  known  many  a  one  who  would  have  been 
improved  by  a  little  hanging.  They  contribute  liberally  to 
all  Gentile  charities  in  the  communities  where  they  live; 
they  ask  nothing  from  the  Gentiles  for  their  own.  If  a  Jew 
is  broken  down  in  business,  the  others  set  him  up  again  or 
give  him  emjDloyment  and  his  children  have  bread.  If  one 
is  in  trouble  the  others  stand  by  him  with  counsel  and 
material  aid,  remembering  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  open 

thine  hand  wide  unto  thy  brethren,  and  shalj^urely  lend yi 

him  sufficient  for  his  need,  in  that  which  he  wanteth." 
Their  average  education  is  far  ahead  of  the  races  by  whom 
they  are  surrounded.  I  have  never  seen  an  adult  Jew  who 
could  not  read,  write^and  compute  figures — especially  the 
figures.  Of  the  four  great  human  industries  which  con- 
duce to  the  public  wealth,  agriculture,  manufacturing, 
mining.and  commerce,  as  a  general  rule  they  engage  only 
in  one.  They  are  neither  farmers,  miners,  smiths,  carpen- 
ters, mechanics  Or  artizans  of  any  kind.  They  are  merchants 
only,  but  as  such,  own  few  or  no  ships,  and  they  are  rarely 
carriers  of  any  kind.  They  wander  over  the  whole  earth, 
but  they  are  never  pioneers,  and  they  found  no  colonies, 
because  as  I  suppose,  being  devoted  to  one  business  only, 
they  lack  the  self-sustaining  elements  of  those  who  build 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  389 

new  States;  and  whilst  they  engage  individually  in  politics 
where  the)'  are  not  disfranchised,  and  contend  for  ofhces 
and  honors  like  other  people,  they  yet  seek  nowhere  polit- 
ical pozvcr  or  national  aggyegatio>i.  Dealers  in  every  kind 
of  merchandise,  with  rare  exceptions  they  manufacture 
none.  They  dwell  exclusively  in  towns,  cities  and  villages, 
but  as  a  general  rule  do  not  own  the  property  they  live 
upon.  They  marry  within  themselves  entirely,  and  yet  in 
defiance  of  well  known  natural  laws,  with  regard  to  breed- 
ing "in  and  in,"  their  race  does  not  degenerate.  With  them 
family  government  is  perhaps  more  supreme  than  with  any 
other  people.  Divorce,  domestic  discord,  and  disobedience 
to  parents  are  almost  unknown  among  them. 

The  process  by  which  they  have  become  the  leading 
merchants,  bankers,  and  financiers  of  the  world  is  explained 
by  their  history.  In  many  places  their  children  were  not 
permitted  to  enter  the  schools,  or  even  to  be  enrolled  in  the 
guilds  of  labor.  Trade  was  therefore  the  only  avenue  left 
open  to  them.  In  most  countries  they  dared  not  or  could 
not  own  the  soil.  Why  a  nation  of  original  agriculturists 
ceased  to  cultivate  the  soil  altogether  is  therefore  only 
seemingly  inexplicable.  All  nations  nnist  have  a  certain 
proportion  of  their  population  engaged  in  tilling  the  soil; 
as  the  Jews  have  no  common  country  they  reside  in  all;  and 
in  all  countries  they  have  the  shrewdness  to  see  that  whilst 
it  is  most  honorable  to  plow,  yet  all  men  live  more  com- 
fortably than  the  plowman.  In  addition  to  which,  as  before 
intimated,  agriculture  so  fixed  them  to  the  soil  that  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  evade  persecution  and  spoliation. 
They  were  constantly  on  the  move,  and  their  wealth  nnist 
therefore  be  portable  and  easily  secreted — hence  their  early 
celebrity  as  lapidaries,  dealers  in  diamonds  and  precious 
stones — and  hence  too,  their  introduction  of  bills  of 
exchange.  The  utility  of  these  great  aids  to  connnerce  had 
long  been  known  to  the  world — perhaps  by  both  Greek  and 
Roman — but   could  never    be  made    available    b)-    them, 


390  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

because  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  each  other  did  not 
exist  between  the  drawer  and  the  drawee.  But  this  integrity, 
which  the  lordly  merchants  of  the  Christian  and  the  Pagan 
world  could  not  inspire,  was  found  to  exist  in  the  persecuted 
and  despised  Jew.  So  much  for  the  lessons  of  adversity. 
These  arts  diligently  applied,  at  first  from  necessity,  after- 
wards from  choice,  in  the  course  of  centuries  made  the  Jews 
skillful  above  all  men  in  the  ways  of  merchandise  and  money 
changing,  and  finally  developed  in  them  those  peculiar 
faculties  and  aptitudes  for  a  calling  which  are  brought  out 
as  well  in  man  by  the  special  education  of  successive 
generations,  as  in  the  lower  animals.  The  Jew  merchant 
had  this  advantage,  too,  that  whereas  his  Gentile  competitor 
belonged  to  a  co}isolidatcd  nation^  confined  to  certain 
geographical  limits,  speaking  a  certain  tongue,  the  aid, 
sympathy,  and  influence  which  he  derived  from  social   and 

rf         political  ties,  were  also  confined  to  the  limits  of  his  nation. 
;  But  the  Jew  merchant  belonged  to  a  scattered  natioji^  spread 

out  over  the  whole  earth,  speaking  many  tongues,  and 
welded  together,  not  by  social  ties  alone,  but  by  the  fierce 
fires  of  suffering  and  persecution;  and  the  aid,  sympathy, 
influence- and  information  which  he  derived  therefrom 
came  out  of  the  wfeiaest  parts  of  the  earth. 

^^4%-  When  after  many  centuries  the  flames  of  persecution  had 
abated  so  that  the  Jews  were  permitted  more  than  bare  life, 
their  industry,  energ>^and  talent  soon  placed  them  among 
the  important  motive  powers  of  the  world.  They  entered 
the  fields  of  commerce  in  its  grandest  and  most  colossal 
operations.  They  became  the  friends  and  counselors  of 
kings,  the  prime-ministers  of  empires,  the  treasurers  of 
republics,  the  mover^of  armies,  the  arbiters  of  public  credit, 
the  patrons  of  art,  and  the  critics  of  literature.  We  do  not 
forget  the  time  in  the  near  past  when  the  peace  of  Kurope^^-' 
of  three  worlds^^hung  upon  the  Jewish  Prime-Minister  of 
England.  No  people  are  so  ready  to  accommodate  them- 
selves to  circumstances.     It  was  but  recently  that  we  heard 


*/ 


LIFE   OF  VANCE. 


391 


of  an  English  Jew  taking-  an  absolnte  lease  of  the  ancient 
Persian  Kmpire.  The  single  family  of  Rothschild,  the 
progeny  of  a  poor  German  Jew,  who  three  generations  ago 
sold  cnrious  old  coins  nnder  the  sign  of  a  red  shield^  are 
now  the  possessors  of  greater  wealth  and  power  than  was 
Solomon,  when  he  conld  send  1,300,000  fighting  men  into 
the  field ! 

Twenty  years  ago,  when  this  family  was  in  the  height 
of  its  power,  perhaps  no  sovereign  in  Europe  could  have 
waged  a  successful  war  against  its  united  will.  Two  cen- 
turies since  the  ancestors  of  these  Jewish  money-kino-s 
were  skulking  in  the  caverns  of  the  earth  or  hiding  in  the 
squalid  outskirts  of  persecuting  cities.  Nor  let  it  be  sup- 
posed that  it  is  in  this  field  alone  we  see  the  great  effects  of 
Jewish  intellect  and  energy.  The  genius  which  showed 
itself  capable  of  controlling  the  financial  affairs  of  the 
world,  necessarily  carried  with  it  other  great  powers  and 
capabilities.  The  Jews  in  fact,  under  most  adverse  cir- 
cumstances, made  their  mark — a  high  and  noble  mark — in 
every  other  department  of  human  affairs.  Christian  clergy- 
men have  sat  at  the  feet  of  their  Ra-bkiiw  to  be  taught  the 
mystic  learning  of  the  East ;  Senates  have  been  rnwrnppod- 
by  the  eloquence  of  Jewish  orators ;  courts  have  been  con- 
vinced by  the  acumen  and  learning  of  Jewish  lawyers ;  vast 
throngs  excited  to  the  wildest  enthusiasm  by  Jewish  histri- 
onic and  aesthetic  art ;  Jewish  science  has  helped  to  number 
the  stars  in  their  courses,  to  loose  the  bands  of  Orion,and 

to  guide  ArctufAs  with  his  s^ns.  ^^^_ ^  /*Ci 

Jewish  literature  has  delighted  and  instructed  all  classes  / 

of  mankind,  and  the  world  has  listened  with  rapture  and 
with  tears  to  Jewish  melody  and  song.  For  never  since  its 
spirit  was  evoked  under  the  shadow  of  the  vines  on  the 
hills  of  Palestine  to  soothe  the  melancholy  of  her  Kino- 
has  Judah's  harp,  whether  in  freedom  or  captivity,  in  sorrow 
or  joy,  ceased  to  wake  the  witchery  of  its  tuneful  strinos. 
r''*"Time  forbids  that  I  should  even  name  the  greatest  of 


393  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

those  who  have  distinguished  themselves  and  made  good 
their  claim  to  rank  with  the  foremost  of  earth.  No  section 
of  the  human  family  can  boast  a  greater  list  of  men  and 
women  entitled  to  be  placed  among  the  true  children  of 
genius — going  to  make  up  the  primacy  of  our  race — in 
every  branch  of  human  affairs,  in  every  phase  of  human 
civilization.  Mr.  Draper  says  that  for  four  hundred  years 
of  the  middle  ages-^— ages  more  dark  and  terrible  to  them 
than  to  any  others,  they  took  the  most  philosophical  and 
comprehensive  view  of  things  of  all  European  people,,^" — '^ 

On  the  whole,  and  after  due  deliberation,  I  think  it  may 
be  truthfully  said,  that  there  is  more  of  average  wealth, 
intelligence,  and  morality  among  the  Jewish  people  than 
there  is  among  any  other  nation  of  equal  numbers  in  the 
world !  If  this  be  true — if  it  be  half  true — when  we  con- 
sider the  circumstances  under  which  it  has  all  been  brought 
about,  it  constitutes  in  the  eyes  of  thinking  men  the  most 
remarkable  moral  phenomenon  ever  exhibited  by  any 
portion  of  the  human  family.  For  not  only  has  the  world 
given  the  Jew  no  help,  but  all  that  he  is,  he  has  made 
himself  in  spite  of  the  world — in  spite  of  its  bitter  cruelty, 
its  scornj.and  unspeakable  tyranny.  The  most  he  has  ever 
asked,  certainly  the  most  he  has  ever  received,  and  that  but 
rarely,  zcas  to  be  left  alone.  To  escape  the  sword,  the  rack, 
the  fire,  and  utter  spoiling  of  his  goods,  has  indeed,  for 
centuries,  been  to  him  a  blessed  heritage,  as  the  shadow  of 
a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land. 

The  physical  persecution  of  the  Jew\s  has  measurably 
ceased  among  all  nations  of  the  highest  civilization.  There 
is  no  longer  any  proscription  left  upon  their  political  rights 
in  any  land  where  the  English  tongue  is  spoken.  I  am 
proud  of  the  fact.  But  there  remains  among  us  an  unrea- 
sonable prejudice  of  which  I  am  heartily  ashamed.  Our 
toleration  will  not  be  complete  until  we  put  it  away  also, 
as  well  as  the  old  implements  of  physical  torture. 

This  age,  and  these  United  States  in  particular,  so  boastful 


T 


xLIFE   OF  VANCE.  393 

of  toleration,  presentf  some  curious  evidences  of  the  fact 
that  the  old  spirit  is  not  dead;  evidences  tending  much  to 
show  that  the  prejudices  of  aoc/o  years  ago  are  still  with  us. 
In  Germany,  a  land  more  than  all  others  indebted  to  the 
genius  and  loyal  energy  of  the  Jews,  a  vast  uprising  against 
them  was  lately  excited,  for  the  sole  reason,  so  far  as  one 
can  judge,  that  they  occupy  too  many  places  of  learning  and 
honor,  and  are  becoming  too  rich ! 

In  this,  our  own  free  and  tolerant  land,  where  wars  have 
been  waged  and  constitutions  violated  for  the  benefit  of  the 
African  negro,  the  descendants  of  barbarian  tribes  who  for 
^mft-  years  have  contributed  nothing  to,  though  in  close 
contact  withrtthe  civilization  of  mankind,  save  as  the  Helots 
contributed  an  example  to  the  Spartan  youth,  and  where 
laws  and  partisan  courts  alike  have  been  used  to  force  him 
into  an  equality  with  those  whom  he  could  not  equal,  we 
have  seen  Jews,  educated  and  respectable  men,  descendants  jp  / 
of  those  from  whom  we  derive  our  civilization,  kinsmen,,.---^  / 
after  the  flesh,  of  Him  whom  we  esteem  as  the  Son  of  God 
and  Savior  of  men,  ignominously  ejected  from  hotels  and 
watering  places  as  unworthy  the  association  of  men  who 
had  grown  rich  by  the  sale  of  a  new  brand  of  soap  or  an 
improved  patent  rat-trap !  .,    mmtr^ 

I  have  never  heard  of  one  of  these  indecent  thrusts  at  the  U 
Jews  without  thinking  of  the  dying  words   of    Sargeant   I 
Bothwell  when  he  saw  his  life's  current  dripping  from  the 
sword  of  Burley:     "Base  peasant  churl,  thou  hast  spilt  the 
blood  of  a  line  of  Kings." 

Let  us  learn  to  judge  the  Jew  as  we  judge  other  men — 
by  his  merits.  And  above  all,  let  us  cease  the  abominable 
injustice  of  holding  the  class  responsible  for  the  sins  of  the 
individual.     We  apply  this  test  to  no  other  people. 

Our  principal  excuse  for  disliking  him  now  is  that  we 
have  injured  him.  The  true  gentleman,  Jew  or  Gentile, 
will  always  recognize  the  true  gentleman,  Jew  or  Gentile, 


u 


394  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

and  will  refuse  to  consort  with  an  ill-bred  imposter,  Jew  or 
Gentile,  simply  becanse  he  is  an  ill-bred  imposter. 
"  The  impudence  of  the  low-bred  Jew  is  not  one  whit  more 
detestable  than  the  impudence  of  the  low-bred  Gentile^  J*. 
children  of  "shoddy,  who  by  countless  thousands  swarm  into 
doors  opened  for  them  by  our  democracy.  Let  us  cry  quits 
on  that  score.  Let  us  judge  each  other  by  our  best  not  our 
worst  samples,  and  when  we  find  gold,  let  us  recognize  it. 
Let  us  prove  all  things  and  hold  fast  that  which  is  good. 

Whilst  it  is  a  matter  of  just  pride  to  us  that  there  is 
neither  physical  persecution  nor  legal  proscription  left  upon 
the  civil  rights  of  the  Jews  in  any  land"  where  the  English 
tongue  is  spoken  or  the  English  law  obtains,  yet  T  consider 
it  a  grave  reproach  not  only  to  uSp  but  to  all  Christendom  // 
that  such  injustice  is  permitted  anywhere.  The  recent  ( 
barbarities  inflicted  upon  them  in  Russia  revive  the  recol- 
lection of  the  darkest  cruelties  of  the  middle  ages.  That  is 
one  crying  outrage,  one  damned  spot  that  blackens  the  fair 
light  of  the  nineteenth  century,  without  the  semblance  of 
excuse  or  the  shadow  of  justification.  That  glare  of  burn- 
ing homes,  those  shrieks  of  outraged  women,  those  wailings 
of  orphaned  children  go  up  to  God,  not  only  as  witnesses 
against  the  wretched  savages  who  perpetrate  them,  but  as 
accusations  also  of  those  who  permit  them.  How  sad  it  is 
again  to  hear  that  old  cry  of  Jewish  sorrow,  which  we  had 
hoped  to  hear  no  more  forever !  How  shameful  it  is  to 
know  that  within  the  shadow  of  so-called  Christian 
Churches,  there  are  yet  dark  places  filled  with  the  habitations 
of  cruelty.  No  considerations  of  diplomacy  or  international 
courtesy  should  for  one  moment  stand  in  the  way  of  their 
stern  and  instant  suppression. 

The  Jews  are  our  spiritual  fathers,  the  authors  of  our 
morals,  the  founders  of  our  civilization  with  all  the  power 
and  dominion  arising  therefrom,  and  the  great  peoples 
professing  Christianity  and  imbued  with  any  of  its  noble 
spirit,  should  see  to  it  that  justice  and  protection  are  afforded 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  395 

them.  By  simply  speaking  with  one  voice  it  could  be  done, 
for  no  power  on  earth  conld  resist  that  voice.  Kvery  con- 
sideration of  lu-imanity  and  international  policy  demands 
it.  Their  unspeakable  misfortunes,  their  inherited  woes, 
their  very  helplessness  appeal  to  our  Christian  chivalry, 
trumpet-tongued  in  behalf  of  those  wretched  victims  of  a 
prejudice  for  which  tolerant  Christianity  is  not  altogether 
irresponsible. 

There  are  objections  to  the  Jew  as  a  citizen^iiany  ob- 
jections] some  true  and  some  false,  some  serious  and  some 
trivial.  It  is  said  that  industrially  he  produces  nothing, 
invents  nothing,  adds  nothing  to  the  public  wealth  ;  that 
he  wnll  not  own  real  estate,  nor  take  upon  himself  those 
permanent  ties  which  beget  patriotism  and  become  the 
hostages  of  good  citizenship ;  that  he  merely  sojourns  in 
the  land  and  does  not  divcll  ///  it,  but  is  ever  in  light 
marching  order  and  is  ready  to  flit  when  the  word  comes 
to  go.  These  are  true  objections  in  the  main,  and  serious 
ones,  but  I  submit  the  fault  is  not  his^jsven  here. 

"  Quoth  old  Mazeppa,  ill-betide 
The  school  wherein  I  learned  to  ride." 

These  habits  he  learned  by  persecution.  He  dwelt 
everywhere  in  fear  and  trembling,  and  had  no  assurance  of 
his  life.  He  was  ever  ready  to  leave  because  at  any  mo- 
ment he  might  be  compelled  to  choose  between  leaving 
and  death.  He  built  no  house,  because  at  any  moment  he 
and  his  little  ones  might  be  thrust  out  of  it  to  perish.  He 
cherished  no  love  for  the  land  because  it  cherished  none 
for  him,  but  was  cruel  and  hard  and  bitter  to  him.  And 
yet  history  shows  that  in  every  land  where  he  has  been 
protected  he  has  been  a  faithful  and  zealous  patriot.  Also 
since  his  rights  have  been  secured  he  has  begun  to  show 
the  same  permanent  attachments  to  the  soil  as  other  peo- 
ple, and  is  rapidly  building  houses  and  in  some  places 
cultivating  farms.  These  objections  he  is  rapidly  remov- 
ing: since  we  have  removed  their  cause. 


396  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

So,  too,  the  impression  is  sought  to  be  made  that  he  is 
dishonest  in  his  dealings  with  the  Gentiles,  insincere  in  his 
professions,  servile  to  his  superiors  and  tyrannical  to  his 
inferiors,  oriental  in  his  habit  and  manner.  That  the  Jew — 
meaning  the  class — is  dishonest,  I  believe  to  be  an  atrocious 
calumny  ;  and,  considering  that  we  derive  all  of  our  notions 
of  rectitude  from  the  Jew,  who  first  taught  the  world  that 
command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  and  "  Thou  shalt  not 
bear  false  witness,"  we  pay  ourselves  a  shabby  compliment 
in  thus  befouling  our  teachers.  Undoubtedly  there  are 
Jewish  scoundrels  in  great  abundance  ;  undoubtedly  also 
there  are  Gentile  scoundrels  in  greater  abundance.  South- 
ern reconstruction  put  that  fact  beyond  a  peradventure. 
But  our  own  scoundrels  are  orthodox^  Jewish  scoundrels 
are  unbelievers — thai  is  the  difference.  If  a  man  robs  me 
I  should  thank  him  that  he  denies  my  creed  too  ;  he  com- 
pliments both  me  and  it  by  the  denial. 

The  popular  habit  is  to  regard  an  injury  done  to  one 
by  a  man  of  different  creed  as  a  double  wrong  ;  to  me  it 
seems  that  the  wrong  is  the  greater  coming  from  my  own. 
To  hold  also,  as  some  do,  that  the  sins  of  all  people  are 
due  to  their  creeds,  would  leave  the  sins  of  the  sinners  of 
my  creed  quite  unaccounted  for.  With  some  the  faith  of 
a  scoundrel  is  all  important  ;  it  is  not  so  with  me. 

All  manner  of  crimes,  including  perjury,  cheatingjand 
over-reaching  in  trade,  are  unhesitatingly  attributed  to  the 
Jews,  generally  by  their  rivals  in  trade.  Yet  somehow 
they  are  rarely  proven  to  the  satisfaction  of  even  Gentile 
judges  and  juries.  The  gallows  clutches  but  few,  nor  are 
they  found  in  the  jails  and  penitentiaries — a  species  of  real 
estate  which  I  honor  them  for  not  investing  in.  I  admit 
that  there  was  and  is  perhaps  now  a  remnant  of  the  feel- 
ing that  it  was  legal  to  spoil  the  Egyptians.  Their  con- 
stant life  of  persecution  would  naturally  inspire  this 
feeling;  their //'^^.'v// life  of  toleration  and  their  business 
estimate  of  the  value  of  character  will  asnaturallv  remove 


n 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  397 

it.  Again  and  again,  day  by  day,  we  evince  onr  Gentile 
superiority  in  the  tricks  of  trade  and  sharp  practice.  It  is 
asserted  by  our  proverbial  exclamation  in  regard  to  a  par- 
ticular piece  of  villainy,  "  That  beats  the  Jews  !  "  And  I 
call  your  attention  to  the  further  fact  that,  sharp  as  they 
undoubtedly  are,  they  have  found  it  impossible  to  make 
a  living  in  New  England.  Outside  of  Boston,  not  fifty 
perhaps  can  be  found  in  all  that  land  of  unsuspecting 
integrity  and  modest  righteousness.  They  have  managed 
to  endure  with  long-suffering  patience  the  knout  of  the 
Czar  and  the  bow-string  of  the  Turk,  but  they  have  fled 
for  life  from  the  presence  of  the  wooden  nutmegs  and  the 
left-handed  gimlets  of  Jonathan.  Is  there  any  man  who 
hears  me  to-night  who,  if  a  Yankee  and  a  Jew  were  to 
"  lock  horns  "  in  a  regular  encounter  of  commercial  wits, 
would  not  give  large  odds  on  the  Yankee?  My  own 
opinion  is  that  the  genuine  "  guessing "  Yankee,  with  a 
jack-knife  and  a  pine  shingle  could  in  two  hours  time 
whittle  the  smartest  Jew  in  New  York  out  of  his  home- 
stead in  the  Abrahamic  covenant. 

I  agree  with  Lord  Macaul|ythatjthe  Jew  is  what  we 
have  made  him.  If  he  is  a  bad  job,  in  all  honesty  we 
should  contemplate  him  as  the  handiwork  of  our  own 
civilization.  If  there  be  indeed  guile  upon  his  lips  or  ser- 
vility in  his  manner,  we  should  remember  that  such  are 
the  legitimate  fruits  of  oppression  and  wrong,  and  that 
they  have  been,  since  the  pride  of  Judah  was  broken  and 
his  strength  scattered,  his  only  means  of  turning  aside  the 
uplifted  sword  and  the  poised  javelin  of  him  who  sought 
to  plunder  and  slay.  Indeed  so  long  has  he  schemed  and 
shifted  to  avoid  injustice  and  cruelty,  that  we  can  perceive 
in  him  all  the  restless  watchfulness  which  characterizes  the 
hunted  animal. 

To  this  day  the  cast  of  the  J^^-9  features  in  repose  is 
habitually  grave  and  sad  as  though  the  very  plough-share 
of  sorrow  had  marked  its  furrows  across  their  faces  forever. 


398  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

"  And  where  shall  Israel  lave  her  bleeding  feet ! 

And  when  shall  Ziou's  songs  again  seem  sweet, 

And  Judah's  melody  once  more  rejoice 

The  hearts  that  leaped  before  its  heavenly  voice  ? 

Tribes  of  the  wandering  foot  and  weary  heart 

How  shall  ye  flee  away  and  be  at  rest  ?  * 

The  wild  dove  hath  her  nest — the  fox  his  cave — 

INIankind  their  country — Israel  but  the  grave." 

The  hardness  of  Christian  prejudice  having  dissolved,  so 
will  that  of  the  Jew.  The  hammer  of  persecution  having 
ceased  to  beat  upon  the  iron  mass  of  their  stubbornness,  // 
will  cease  to  consolidate  and  harden,  and  the  main  strength 
of  their  exclusion  and  preservation  will  have  been  lost. 
They  will  perhaps  learn  that  one  sentence  of  our  Lord's 
grayer,  which  it  is  said  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Talmud, 
and  which  is  the  key-note  of  the  difference  between  Jew 
and  Gentile,  "Forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  zr^ forgive  them 
who  trespass  against  us." 

If  so,  they  will  become  as  other  men,  and  taking  their 
harps  down  from  the  willows,  no  longer  refuse  to  sing  the 
songs  of  Zion  because  they  are  captives  in  a  strange  land. 

I  believe  that  there  is  a  morning  to  open  yet  for  the  Jews 
in  Heaven's  good  time,  and  if  that  opening  shall  be  in  any 
way  commensurate  with  the  darkness  of  the  night  through 
which  they  have  passed,  it  will  be  the  brightest  that  ever 
dawned  upon  a  faithful  people. 

have  stood  on  the  summit  of  the  very  monarch  of  our 
great  Southern  Alleghanies  and  seen  the  night  flee  away 
before  the  chariot  wheels  of  the  God  of  day.  The  stars 
receded  before  the  pillars  of  lambent  fire  that  pierced  the 
zenith,  a  thousand  ragged  mountain  peaks  began  to  peer  up 
from  the  abysmal  darkness,  each  looking  through  the 
vapory  seas  that  filled  the  gorges  like  an  island  whose 
"jutting  and  confounded  base  was  swilled  by  the  wild  and 
wasteful  ocean."  As  the  curtain  was  lifted  more  and  more 
and  the  eastern  brightness  grew  in  radiance  and  in  glory, 
animate   nature  prepared   to   receive   her  Lord ;   the   tiny 


LIFE   OF  VANCF.  399 

snow-bird  from  its  nest  in  the  turf  began  chirping  to  its 
young ;  the  silver  pheasant  sounded  its  morning  drum-beat 
for  its  mate  in  the  boughs  of  the  fragrant  fir;  the  dun  deer 
rising  slowly  from  his  mossy  couch  and  stretching  himself 
in  gracefulcurves,  began  to  crop  the  tender  herbage; 
whflst  the  lordly  eagle  rising  straight  upward  from  his 
home  on  the  crag,  with  pinions  wide  spread,  bared  his 
golden  breast  to  the  yellow  beams  and  screamed  l*is  wel- 
come to  the  sun  in  his  coming!  Soon  the  vapors  of  the  ^^j^ 
night  are  lifted  up  on  shafts  of  fire,  rolling  and  ««et^Tmg  in    M*'"*^ 

billows  of  refulgent  flame,    until^when  far   overhead^  they ^ 

are  caught  upon  the  wings  of  the  morning  breeze  and  swept 
away,  perfect  day  was  established  and  there  was  peace.  So 
may  it  be  with  this  long-suffering  and  immortal  people. 
So  may  the  real  spirit  of  Christ  yet  be  so  triumphantly  in- 
fused amongst  those  who  profess  to  obey  his  teachings,  that 
with  one  voice  and  one  hand  they  will  stay  the  persecutions 
and  hush  the  sorrows  of  these  their  wondrous  kinsmen,  put 
them  forward  into  the  places  of  honor  and  the  homes  of 
love  where  all  the  lands  in  which  they  dwell^hall  be  to- 
them  as  was  Jerusalem  to  their  fathers.  So  may  the  morn- 
ing come,  not  to  them  alone,  but  to  all  the  children  of  men 
who,  through  much  tribulation  and  with  heroic  manhood  ^ 
have  waited  for  its  dawning^th  a  faith  whose  constant- 
cry  through  all  the  dreary  watches  "of  the  night  has  been, 
"Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him  !" 

"Roll  golden  sun,  roll  swiftly  toward  the  west, 

Dawn  happy  day  when  many  woes  shall  cease; 
Come  quickly  Lord,  thy  people  wait  the  rest 

Of  thine  abiding  peace! 

No  more,  no  more  to  hunger  here  for  love; 

No  more  to  thirst  for  blessings  long  denied. 
Judah!  Thy  face  is  foul  with  weeping,  but  above 

Thou  shalt  be  satisfied!" 


/ 


400  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

ADDRESS — THE  DUTIES  OF  DEFEAT. 

Duties  «f  Defeat — Extracts  from  Address  at  State  University  Soon 
After  the  War — Loyalty  and  Devotion  to  Liberty  and  the  Consti- 
tution Enjoined— Adjustment  to  Existing  Conditions — Great  Op- 
portunities for  Wisdom  and  Statesmanship — The  Orphan  Son  of  a 
Dead  Soldier  Tempted  into  Crime — The  Lesson— Exhortation  to 
Manliness,  and  Love  of  Country — The  Effort  to  Restore  Prosperity 
and  Build  Up  Waste  Places. 


THE  following  are  extracts  from  an  address  delivered 
by  Hon.  Z.  B.  Vance  before  the  Literary  Society  of 
the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  ChajDcl  Hill,  June 
7th,  1866: 

We  stand  to-day  amidst  the  stranded  fragments  and 
floating  timbers  of  the  great  civil  war  in  history.  Astounded 
at  the  mighty  results  we  are  as  yet  unable  to  comprehend 
them.  Indeed  the  profound  significance  of  their  full  phil- 
osophical import  can  scarcely  be  gathered  by  this  genera- 
tion. For  we  are  not  yet  at  the  end  of  the  revolution  as  is 
popularly  supposed,  but  are  only,  as  we  trust,  at  the  end  of 
armed  violence.  *  *  *  *  Perhaps  in  modern  annals 
there  will  scarcely  be  found  a  parallel  to  the  complete  ruin 
and  impoverishment  of  the  people  of  the  Southern  States. 
*  *  *  Upon  our  own  beloved  State  a  full  share  of  these 
common  calamities  has  fallen;  Nor  does  it  relieve  them 
of  their  crushing  weight  to  remember  the  deep  hostility  of 
her  people  to  the  policy  which  inaugurated  them.  Quiet, 
conservative,  law  abiding  as  her  people  have  ever  been — 
though  jealous  of  their  rights  and  honor,  and  ready  at  any 
moment  to  perish  for  them — yet  slow  to  violate  compacts, 
they  have  never  ceased  to  prefer  exhausting  all  civil  reme- 
dies for  the  redress  of  public  grievances,  rather  than  evoke 


LIFE    OF    VANCE.  401 

the  terrible  and  uncertain  arbitrament  of  revolution.  vSteady 
in  the  exercise  of  this  resolution,  she  was  forced,  the  very 
last,  into  a  conflict  which  she  was  the  very  first  in  main- 
taining. The  sufferings  of  our  people  have  indeed  been 
fearfully  commensurate  with  their  honesty  and  their  courage. 
With  her  homesteads  burned  to  ashes;  with  fields  desolated; 
with  thousands  of  her  noblest  and  bravest  children  sleeping 
in  beds  of  slaughter;  innumerable  orphans,  widows  and 
helpless  persons  reduced  to  beggary  and  deprived  of  their 
natural  protectors;  her  corporations  bankrupt  and  her  own 
credit  gone;  her  public  charities  overthrown,  her  educa- 
tional fund  utterly  lost;  her  land  filled  from  end  to  end  with 
her  maimed  and  mutilated  soldiers;  denied  all  representa- 
tion in  the  public  councils;  her  heart-broken  and  wretched 
people  are  not  only  oppressed  with  the  weight  of  their  own 
indebtedness,  but  are  crushed  into  the  very  dust  by  taxation 
for  the  mighty  debt  incurred  as  the  cost  of  their  own  sub- 
jugation! The  very  race  of  beasts  of  burden,  by  which  alone 
we  could  extract  bread  from  the  half-tilled  earth,  was,  at  the 
close  of  hostilities,  almost  destroyed,  leaving  us  destitute  of 
even  the  means  of  labor!  Such  a  picture  of  suffering 
would  seem  sufficient  to  sate  a  generous  enemy,  and  should 
move  the  deepest  depths  in  the  bosoms  of  her  loving  sons. 
*  *  *  There  was  indeed  a  cry  and  lament  through  all 
her  borders.  From  her  Alpine  heights  to  her  tidal  sands, 
from  her  plains  and  valleys  and  all  her  habitation,  the  wail 
went  up.  The  dismal  cypress  garlanded  with  funeral 
moss  became  fit  emblems  of  her  woe;  and  her  sombre  pines 
moaning  in  the  breeze  sang  requiems  solemn  as  for  the 
dead.  And  though  nature  was  still  kindly  and  invited  us 
to  forget  our  sorrow;  though  the  sun  still  warmed  and  cher- 
ished the  earth;  though  the  early  and  the  latter  rains  still 
descended  according  to  the  promise,  clothing  the  fields  with 
verdure  and  causing  the  tender  herb  to  put  forth;  and 
though  the  mocking  bird — sweetest  of  our  warblers — em- 
bowered within  the  shadows  of  his  leafy  home,  poured  forth 

27 


402  LIFK    OF    VANCE. 

his  glorious  song,  "every  note  that  we  heard  awaking," 
yet  no  joyous  response  stirred  our  bosoms.  It  seemed  in- 
deed that  despair  had  claimed  us  for  her  own.  We  felt 
that  it  was  demanded  of  us  to  sing  a  song  in  a  strange  land, 
and  we  could  but  hang  our  harp  upon  the  willows  of  our 
own  native  rivers,  famous  now  with  the  rich  memories  of 
our  children's  blood,  and  weep  when  we  remembered  the 
pleasant  places  from  which  we  had  fallen.  It  was  in  truth 
a  prospect  to  appall  the  stoutest  hearted;  and  many  of  our 
aged  and  infirm,  who  had  bravely  borne  all  the  sufferings 
of  a  four  years'  war,  have  sunk  down  like  the  oak,  which 
having  withstood  the  storm,  yet  falls  in  the  ensuing  calm 
and  died,  "rejoicing  exceedingly  and  being  glad  that  they 
could  find  the  grave." 

Such  are  the  changes  through  which  we  have  passed 
and  are  passing,  such  is  the  condition,  physical  and  social, 
of  your  country  at  the  moment  when  you  are  to  enter 
upon  the  earnest  duties  of  life.  You  will  probably  agree 
with  me  in  thinking  that  the  time  is  an  important  one 
and  that  the  duties  before  young  men  of  education  and 
patriotism  differ  widely  from,  and  far  exceed  in  mighty 
responsibility,  those  which  have  devolved  on  any  of  your 
predecessors. 

It  will  not  be  improper  to  glance  at  some  of  the  peculiar 
fields  where  your  energies  as  well  as  your  kindly  charities 
may  be  most  benefically  expended.  The  task  of  uplifting 
and  regenerating  our  fallen  country  indeed  belongs  to 
us  all ;  but  it  will  devolve  more  especially  upon  you. 
Neither  spent  nor  broken  down  by  the  fierce  conflicts  and 
deadly  disappointments  of  the  past,  your  fresh  spirits  are 
not  only  endowed  with  the  vigor  necessary  to  successful 
action,  but  they  can  more  easily  bend  to  the  Percustian  bed 
of  circumstances  which  is  spread  for  the  repose  of  the 
conquered  people  wherein  lies,  now  and  at  all  times,  the 
true  secret  of  statesmanship.  The  work  is  not  nearly  so 
hopeless  as  it  would  seem  at  first,  and  it  is  noble  and  glori- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  4^3 

ous  beyond  anything  that  ever  fired  the  ambition  of  youth. 
Though  the  destruction  is  so  widespread  and  thorough  it 
should  be  remembered  that  there   is  nothing  which   can 
exceed  the  recuperative   powers  of  nature  when  aided  by 
the  industry  of  men.     The  gaping  wounds  in  our  country's 
bosom  are  to    be    healed,    these    enormous    losses    of  our 
wealth  are  to  be  repaired,  these  wasted  fields  are  to  be 
restored  to  the  glorious   verdure   of  peaceful   abundance; 
from  the  ashes  of  the  homes  which  once  sheltered  us  must 
arise  the  beams  and  rafters  of  homes  still  as  beautiful  and 
happy.     The  blackened  chimneys  must  no  longer  stand, 
grim  and  solitary  on  the  landscape,  surrounded  by  rank 
and  profitless  weeds,  the  sorrowful  milemarks  of  the  sweep 
of  desolation  as  it  marched,  devouring  our  substance,  but 
must  be  made  to  send  up  again  from  mansion  roofs,  the 
cheering  columns  of  smoke  which   once  bespoke   plenty 
and    repose,    and    to   glow   again   with  winter's    blaze    of 
domestic   peace  and   sacred  hospitality.     All  the  bloody 
foot-prints  of  ruthless  war  must  be  erased  by  the  hand  of 
intelligent  industry.     Looking  despairingly  at  the  condi- 
tion of  things,  the  country  turns  towards  her  young  men 
and    calls    to    them    to    lead    the    way    in   preaching   and 
practicing   hope.     You   are   required   above   all   things   to 
teach  our'' people  to  look  up  from  the  crumbling  ashes  and 
prostrate  columns   of   their  present   ruin,   to   the   majestic 
proportions  and  surpassing  grandeur  of  that  temple  which 
may  yet  be  built  by  the  hand  which  labors,   the   mind 
which  conceives,  and  the  great  soul  which  faints  not.     An 
officer  leading  his  men  into  battle,  himself  going  first  and 
charging  home  upon  the  enemy,   with  the  high  and  lofty 
daring  of  a  hero,  rallying  his  troops  wdien  they  waver, 
cheering  when  they  advance,   applauding  the  brave  and 
sustaining    the  faint-hearted  bearing  aloft  the  colors  of  his 
command   and  struggling  with  all  the  strength  and  spirit 
of  manhood,  resolving  to  conquer  or  to  perish,  is' esteemed 
one  of  the  noblest  exhibitions  of  which  man  is  capable. 


404  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

We  thrill  and  burn  as  we  read  the  glowing  story  and 
exhaust  the  language  of  praise  in  extolling  his  virtues. 
But  not  less  glorious,  not  less  worthy  of  the  commendation 
of  his  countrymen  is  he  who  in  an  hour  like  this  bravely 
submits  to  fate;  and  scorning  alike  the  promptings  of 
despair  and  the  unmanly  refuge  of  expatiation,  rushes  to 
the  rescue  of  his  perishing  country,  inspires  his  fellow- 
citizens  with  hope,  cheers  the  disconsolate,  arouses  the 
sluggish,  lifts  up  the  helpless  and  the  feeble,  and  by  voice 
and  examj^le  in  every  possible  way,  urges  forward  all  the 
blessed  and  bloodless  and  crowning  victories  of  peace. 
It  is  a  noble  thing  to  die  for  one's  country;  it  is  a  higher 
and  a  nobler  thing  to  live  for  it. 

The  best  test  of  the  best  heroism  nozv  is  a  cheerful  and 
loyal  submission  to  the  powers  and  events  established  by 
our  defeat  and  a  ready  obedience  to  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  our  country.  Being  denied  the  immortal  distinc- 
tion of  dying  for  your  country,  as  did  your  fathers  and  your 
elder  brothers,  you  may  yet  rival  their  glory  by  living  for 
it  if  you  will  live  wisely,  earnestly  and  well. 

The  greatest  campaign  for  which  soldiers  ever  buckled 
on  armor  is  now  before  you.  The  drum  beats  and  the 
bugle  sounds,  to  arms,  to  repel  invading  poverty  and  desti- 
tution, which  have  seized  our  strongholds  and  are  waging 
war,  cruel  and  relentless,  upon  our  women  and  children. 
The  teeming  earth  is  blockaded  by  the  terrible  lassitude  of 
exhaustion  and  we  are  required,  through  toil  and  tribula- 
tion, to  retake,  as  by  storm,  that  prosperity  and  happiness 
which  were  once  our  own,  and  to  plant  our  banners  firmly 
upon  their  everlasting  ramparts  amid  the  plaudits  of  a 
redeemed  and  regenerated  people.  The  noblest  soldier 
lunv.^  is  he  that  with  ax  and  plough  pitches  his  tent  against 
the  waste  places  of  his  fire-blasted  home  and  swears  that 
from  its  ruins  there  shall  arise  another  like  unto  it,  and 
that  from  its  barren  fields  there  shall  come  again  the  glad- 
dening sheen  of  dew-gemined  meadows,   in  the  rising  and 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  405 

the  golden  waves  of  ripening  harvests,  in  the  setting  sun. 
This' is  a  besieging  of  fate  itself;  a  hand  to  hand  struggle 
with  the  stern  columns  of  calamity  and  despair.  But  the 
God  of  nature  hath  promised  that  it  shall  not  fail  when 
courage,  faith  and  industry  sustain  the  assailant ;  and  this 
victory  won  without  one  drop  of  human  blood,  unstained 
by  a  single  tear,  imparting  and  receiving  blessings  on  every 
hand  will  be  such  as  the  wise  and  good  of  all  the  earth 
may  applaud,  and  over  which  even  the  angels  might  unite 

in  rejoicing. 

Now  from  the  earth  directly  or  indirectly  comes  all  the 
wealth  of  man,  whether  it  be  in  flocks  upon  the  hills,  in 
palaces  within  the  city,  or  in  ships  upon  the  sea.     In  this 
prolific   and  never-failing  source  alone  must  be  laid  the 
foundations  of  our  regeneration,  and  the  plow  is  the  great 
instrument  with  which  it  is  to  be  effected— the  oldest  born, 
the  simplest  and  most  beneficent  of  inventions,  the  father 
and  the  king  of  all  the  implements  of  man— upon  it  de- 
pends all  of  agriculture,  of  manufactures,  of  commerce  and 
of  civilization.     Remembering  this,  it  will  be  your  first 
and  last  great  duty,  whether  as  legislators  or  private  citi- 
"   zens,  to  encourage,  foster  and  protect  labor  upon  the  soil, 
being  assured   when   it   prospers  that    all  other   desirable 
things  shall  be  added.     *      *      '' 

It  will  be  our  duty  now,  in  better  ways  and  under  hap- 
pier auspices,  still  further  to  undeceive  them  (the  Northern 
people)  by  the  vigor  and  energy  with  which  we  shall  clear 
away  the  wreck  of  our  fallen  fortunes,  adapt  ourselves  to 
circumstances  under  changed  institutions  and  new  systems 
of  labor,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  we  shall  travel  in 
those  ways  which  lead  to  the  rebuilding  and  adorning  a 
State.  Nor  will  it  admit  of  a  doubt  that  the  same  courage, 
constancy  and  skill  which  led  our  slender  battalions  through 
so  many  pitched  fields  of  glory,  will,  when  directed  into 
the  peaceful  channels  of  natural  prosperity  and  quickened 
by  the  sharp  lessons  of  adversity,  be  sufficient  to  place  the 


4o6  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Southern  States  of  the  American  Union  side  by  side  with 
the  richest  and  mightiest.  Deserving  also  of  your  earnest 
attention  is  that  moral  ruin — scarcely  less  extensive  than 
the  physical — which  dogs  the  footsteps  of  revolution.  No 
classes  of  our  society  have  altogether  escaped  it,  while  in 
some  its  ravages  have  been  fearful.  The  peculiar  counter- 
acting influences — those  of  schools  and  schoolmasters — the 
general  poverty  of  the  country  has  well  nigh  destroyed. 
The  almost  total  loss  of  the  very  considerable  fund  set 
apart  by  the  wisdom  of  your  Legislators  in  happier  times 
for  the  education  of  the  poor  children  of  the  State,  and  the 
consequent  abandonment  of  our  system  of  common  schools, 
are  by  no  means  to  be  second  among  the  least  of  our  many 
misfortunes.  To  the  thousands  of  children  whose  parents 
were  heretofore  unable  to  educate  them,  are  now  added 
other  thousands  reduced  to  a  worse  condition  by  the  results 
of  the  war.  Their  situation  proves  a  subject  of  the  most 
serious  magnitude,  and  imposes  additional  obligations  upon 
all  who,  like  you,  have  been  favored  with  the  means  and 
opportunity  of  education.  But  among  all  the  sacred  duties 
which  will  devolve  on  you  as  citizens  and  patriots,  there 
are  some  more  sacred  still  than  others;  and  one  of  these  is  the 
looking  after  and  caring  for  the  orphans  of  those  who  per- 
ished in  your  defense  and  mine.  Numbers  of  them  are 
destitute  not  only  of  the  means  of  education,  but  of  subsis- 
tence itself.  Without  friends  or  protection,  they  will  wan- 
der into  ways  of  wickedness  and  ruin.  It  has  already  been 
my  painful  fortune  to  witness  an  instance  of  such  an  one 
brought  into  the  courts  of  justice,  charged  with  crimes  com- 
mitted under  the  influence  of  want  and  in  the  absence  of  a 
father's  teachings.  But  that  father  was  sleeping  far  away 
in  a  rude  soldier's  grave  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  and  his  orphan  boy,  without  a  parent,  a  protector 
or  a  friend  in  the  world,  lone  and  homeless,  had  wandered 
among  strangers  and  been  tempted  into  crime.  I  visited 
him  in  prison  where,  without  a  coat,  without  shoes  or  hat 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  4^7 

and  his  few  remaining  garments,   displaying  his  pale  and 
delicate   frame,   he  told  me  his  simple  and  piteous  story. 
His  tender  years  and  helpless  condition  appealed  so  strongly 
to  the  court  that  the  penalties  of  the  law  were  not  inflicted 
upon  him.     *      *      *      But  my  heart  bled  within  me  when 
I  remembered  he  was  only  one  of  a  thousand  whose  future 
was  equally  hard,  and  that  he  had  thus  lost  home  and  father 
and  honest  life >r:K^«,««^>'wr.       *     *      *     The  time 
is  not  far  distant  when,  as  citizens,  I   trust,  you  will  be  per- 
mitted to  take  a  part  in  the  government  of  your  country. 
The  path  of  statesmanship  for  the  past  decade  has  been 
beset  with  peculiar  difhculties  ;  nor  is  it  likely  that  the  sur- 
roundings of  the  present  period  will  prove  less  embarrassing 
to  any  public  man  honestly   seeking  his  country's  good. 
The  lessons  of  experience  would  make  us  all  wise,  if  they 
were  not  forgotten.     In  taking  whatever  position  your  tal- 
ents or  inclination  may  cause  to  be  assigned  you  my  most 
solemn  injunction  would  be   to  burn   into  your   memories 
forever  the  teachings  of  the  terrible  experience  of  the  past 
five  years.     The  great  problem  we  have  just  worked  out  is 
full  of  mighty  meaning,  its  theories Js  demonstrated  in  char- 
acters of  '^fraternal  blood"  and  all  its  cordlaries  teem  with 
changes  of  power  and  the  downfall  of  systems.     Let  it  ever 
bebelore  your  eyes,   and  learn  of  it.      Among  other  wise 
things,  that  the  yielding  to  blind  passions  and  personal  re- 
sentments, when  the  happiness  of  thousands  is  entrusted  to 
your  judgment,  is  a  crime  for  which  God  will  hold  you  ac- 
countable.    The  subjection  of  every  passion  and  prejudice 
in  the  breast  to  the   cooler  sway  of  judgment  and  reason, 
when  the  common  welfare  is  concerned,  is  the  first  victory 
to  be  won  in  a  political  career.     Without  it  you  can  win  no 
other  in  which  your  country  can  rejoice.     *     *      *     Such 
is  now  the  actual   state  of   things,    unfortunate  as  we  may 
regard  it,  and  contrary  as  it  may  seem   to  all   our  ideas  of 
the  true  purposes  of  government.     But  it  is  <nir  country 
still,  and  if  it  cannot  be  governed  as  ivc  wish  it,  it  must  be 


w-^ 


408  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

governed  in  some  other  way  ;  and  it  is  still  our  dut)'  to 
labor  for  its  prosperity  and  glory  with  ardor  and  sincerity, 
I  earnestly  urge  upon  you  the  strictest  conformity  of  your 
conduct  to  the  situation  ;  to  what  the  government  actually 
is,  not  what  you  think  it  ought  to  be.  It  is  our  bounden 
duty  as  honest  men,  to  give  our  new  formed  institutions  a 
a  full  and  fair  trial,  especially  the  new  system  of  labor,  and 
if  they  prove  better  than  the  old,  let  us  forget  our  sufferings 
and  be  thankful.  *  *  *  Our  great  country  of  the 
South  with  its  fertile,  happy  climate  and  boundless  re- 
sources excites  the  highest  admiration  of  the  Northern 
people.  The  rigorous  scope  and  conservative  tendency  of 
our  statesmanship  they  have  never  failed  to  respect  and  have 
even  acknowledged  that  it  has  controlled  to  a  great  degree 
the  policy  of  the  government  in  and  from  its  organization, 
thereby  giving  us  credit  for  much  of  its  power  and  glory. 
*  *  *  They  cannot  deny  that  the  world  renowned  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  of  July,  1776,  was  from  the  brain 
of  a  Southern  statesman ;  and  that  it  was  tlie  genius  of  a 
Southern  general  who  in  making  good  its  bold  assumptions, 
rendered  himself  the  most  illustrious  of  mankind.  Nor 
yet  can  they  forget  that  in  two  foreign  wars  the  most  signal 
glory  shed  upon  our  country's  arms  was  by  the  skill  and 
valor  of  Southern  commanders,  followed  by  Southern  volun- 
teers. And  certainly  they  cannot  overlook  even  now,  that 
friend  of  military  genius,  intrepid  gallantry,  heroic  con- 
stancy under  misfortune  and  all  the  traits  which  mark  a 
noble  people,  that  we  have  so  lately  exhibited.  I  would  as 
soon  believe  there  was  no  room  for  such  things  in  the 
breasts  of  men  as  truth  and  honor,  as  that  every  soldier  in 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  from  its  general  to  the  humblest 
private  that  followed  its  banners,  did  not,  in  his  heart,  re- 
spect and  honor  the  lofty  courage,  consummate  skill  and 
patient  constancy  of  iJiat  olJicr  army^  which  though  vastly 
inferior  in  numbers  and  appointments  yet  kept  it  four  years 
on  the  short  but  bloody  journey   from   the   Potomac  to  the 


LIFE   OF  VANCF.  409 

James,  and   jailed  ever)-  inch  of   its  pathway  with  ghastly 
monuments  of  the  slain. 

Let  not  the  sneer  of  the  snpercilion  nor  the  taunt  of  the 
ungenerous  over  cur  final  defeat,  deceive  us  in  this  matter 
or  cause  us  to  aljut  one  jot  of  our  just  claims  to  the  high 
place  in  history  which  posterity  will  award  us.  That  which 
so  moved  upon  the  sympathy  and  admiration  of  the  world 
has  already  excited  and  will  yet  more  excite  that  of  oiir 
Northern  friends.  And  in  due  time,  if  we  faint  not,  we 
shall  reap  those  fruits  which  the  generous  and  the  better 
feelings  of  men  never  fail  to  bear.  Years  hence  when,  as 
I  trust,  time  and  a  juster  policy  shall  have  healed  many  an 
ugly  wound  and  quieted  many  an  aching  heart,  the  story 
of  the  great  civil  war  will  be  read  around  a  thousand  fire- 
sides among  the  homes  of  the  North,  and  as  the  glowing 
recital  burns  upon  the  ear,  how  that  one-fourth  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States,  without  manufactures,  and  almost 
without  arms;  without  ships,  arsenals  or  foundaries,  shut 
out  from  all  the  world  by  a  sealed  blockade,  for  four  long 
and  terrible  years  fought  back  and  kept  at  bay  the  other 
three-fourths,  who  were  aided  by  manumitted  slaves;  who  had 
great  navies,  their  own  and  the  workshop  of  the  world  at 
their  control  and  whose  slaughtered  armies  were  filled  up 
again  and  again  from  the  swarming  populations  of  Europe; 
and  how  the  ragged  battalions  of  the  South,  under  Lee, 
and  Jackson,  and  Johnston,  and  Hoke,  and  Pender,  and 
Early,  struggled  with  the  great  armies  of  McClellan,  and 
Grant,  and  Sherman,  and  Sheridan,  and  Bruce,  until  the 
world  was  full  of  their  fame;  a  thousand  fathers  burning 
with  the  unconfessed  pride  of  country  and  of  race,  will 
say  to  their  sons  who  wonder  how  these  things  could  have 
been:  "These  were  the  countrymen  of  Washington  and 
Jackson.  These  were  Americans — none  but  American  citi- 
zens could  have  done  these  things."  *  *  *  May  this 
honored  and  revering  University  speedily  and  from  time  to 
time,  open  again  its  gates   and   send  forth  to  the  work  of 


u- 


4IO  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

the  regeneration  of  their  country  as  many  high  souled  and 
generous,  brave  and  enthusiastic  youths  as  rushed  through 
its  portals  to  untimely  graves  during  the  years  of  our  trib- 
ulation. I  could  not  endure  to  live  but  for  the  comforting 
hope  that  compensating  years  of  peace  and  happiness  are 
yet  in  store  for  those  who  have  struggled  so  manfully  and 
endured  so  nobh'.  Having  gone  down  into  the  very  low- 
est depths  of  the  fiery  furnace  of  affliction  seven  times 
heated  by  the  cruel  malice  of  civil  war,  I  believe  there  will 
yet  appear  walking  with  and  comforting  our  mourning 
people,  One  whose  form  is  like  unto  that  of  the  Son  of 
God. 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  411 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

SPRKCH  ON  THE  BLAIR  BILL. 

Extracts  from  Debates  on  the  Blair  Educational  Bill  in  United  States 
Senate — Sharp  Replies  to  Hoar,  Ingalls  and  Others — Reasons  Why 
the  North  Should  Help  the  South  to  Educate  the  Negro — They 
Sold  Him  and  Got  Pay  for  Him,  Then  Set  Him  P'ree  and  Made 
Him  a  Voter  Without  Proper  Qualification — The  South  Doing  Its 
Full  Duty. 

ET  was  not  my  intention,  INIr.  President,  originally  to  have 
said  a  word  on  this  bill.  There  was  no  particular  call 
for  it  from  the  State  which  I  represent,  and  it  was  looked 
upon  as  a  voluntary  offer  upon  the  part  of  the  people  of  the 
North  to  do  something  towards  the  education  of  the  people 
upon  whom  they  had  conferred  suddenly  the  rights  of 
suffrage  and  citizenship,  but  the  strange  course  of  the  debate 
has  induced  me,  having  made  up  my  mind  to  support  the 
bill,  to  say  a  few  words  by  way  of  giving  my  reasons  for  that 
action.  There  are  many  things  that  can  not  be  denied  in 
connection  with  the  matter.  It  is  true  that  the  people  of 
the  North  set  free  the  colored  people  in  the  South,  ft  is 
true  that  they  not  only  freed  them  without  any  preparation 
for  their  new  state,  but  that  they  conferred  upon  them  the 
highest  rights  of  an  x-lmerican  citizen.  It  is  true  that  they 
enforced  these  rights  by  constitutional  amendments  and 
various  penal  acts  passed  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  when 
constitutional  amendments  and  penal  acts  were  not  of 
sufficient  avail,  they  forced  the  colored  people  into  positions 
of  equality,  if  not  superiority  of  the  white  people  of  the 
South  b)'  the  use  of  the  bayonet.  When  these  things  were 
conferred  upon  the  colored  people  in  the  South,  our  friends 
who  did  it  knew  very  well  what  it  meant — a  dilution  of  or 
an  infusion  into  the  ri<'ht  of  suffraf^e  of  a  vast  amount  of 


V 


412  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

ignorance  and  vice,  of  a  vast  community  of  people  of  a 
different  race  from  those  among  ^vliom  tliey  lived,  inferior 
and  absolutely  unfitted  for  the  duties  which  were  imposed 
upon  them  ;  they  knew  that  that  meant  also  a  surrender  of 
several  of  the  States  of  the  South  to  the  absolute  control  of 
this  colored  majority,  and  they  knew  that  it  meant  also  not 
only  their  surrender,  but  it  meant  the  actual  endangering  of 
all  of  the  institutions  which  the  white  people  of  the  South 
had  built  up,  even  of  their  civil  liberties. 

Suffering  for  twenty  years  or  nearly  so  all  the  inconven- 
iences attending  this  state  of  things  in  the  South;  we  were 
told  to  be  patient ;  that  the  great  panecea  for  all  the  evils  of 
misgovernment  in  every  country  was  education;  that  upon 
the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  the  people  depended  our 
liberties,  and  the  perpetuity  of  our  several  institutions.  But 
why  were  we  told  that,  and  exhorted  to  patience  ?  It  was 
known  to  our  friends  on  the  other  side  likewise  that  we  were 
unable  to  impart  that  education  to  these  people;  that  in  the 
struggle  that  set  them  free,  and  in  the  subsequent  era  of 
carpet-bagism  and  robbing,  we  were  so  impoverished  and  so 
ruined  financially  that  we  were  absolutely  unable  to  have 
taxes  raised  to  impart  the  blessings  of  education  to  these 
people;  that  was  also  well  known.  Now  what  are  we  to  do? 
We  did  the  best  that  we  could  under  the  circumstances.  I 
speak  particularly  of  North  Carolina,  and  I  believe  that  her 
case  is  a  fair  representation  of  all  of  the  Southern  States. 
We  reorganized  our  systems  of  public  schools,  and  we 
replaced  as  far  as  we  could  all  of  the  invested  funds  upon 
which  they  had  been  supported,  and  we  levied  as  much  tax 
as  we  could  possibly  bear  for  the  purpose  of  affording  the 
means  of  education,  but  they  were  and  are  still  lamentably 
insufficient.  It  may  redo^n  somewhat  to  the  credit  of  my 
State,  as  little  as  we  have  done  in  the  way  of  education,  to 
say  that  tlie  annual  taxes  there  for  the  support  of  public 
schools,  in  which  the  colored  people  equally  participate,  is 
$25,000  per  annum  more  than  the  whole  taxation  levied  for 


UFE   OF  VANCE.  413 

the  support  of  the  State  government.       If  any  other  vStates 
exceed  that,  they  are  doing  better  than  we  are.     In  fact,  as 
I  am  told,  some  vStates  in  the  South  are  doing  more,  and  are 
levying  double  the  amount  of  taxes  for  school  purposes  that 
is  levied  for  the  general  expenses  of  the  State  government. 
At   the  same   time   we   were   thus   suffering   under   the 
evils  of  poverty  and  inflicted  by  the  infusion  of  ignorance 
and  vice  into  the  suffrage,  and  into  the  management  of 
our  affairs,  we  were  held  by  the  people   of  the  North  to 
the    same    rigid   account   for   our  public   conduct   as   was 
exacted  from  the  most  highly  educated  Commonwealth  on 
the  American  continent;    from  the  best  established  Com- 
monwealth, and  whose  institutions  for  one  hundred  years 
have   not   been   disturbed,    much   less    threatened   by   any 
social    or    political    revolution;    and    upon    the    slightest 
provocation  you  investigated  us,  and  continue  to  investi- 
gate  us,    notwithstanding    you   say   that    the   evils   under 
which  we  suffered,  and  all  evils  in  government,  originated 
for  the  want  of  sufficient  education  of  the  masses.     After 
this  state  of  things  had  endured  for  nearly   twenty  years, 
at  least  a  portion  of  the  people  of  the  North  through  their 
Representatives    in  Congress  awoke   to  their  duty.     One 
Honorable  Senator  in  this  body  at  least  bethought  him  of 
a  panacea,  and  he  brings  in  this  bill  to  distribute  $15,000,- 
000  the  first  year,  $14,000,000  the  second  year,  and  so  on 
decreasing  $1,000,000  annually  for  ten  years,  among  the 
States  of  the  Union  in  proportion  to    illiteracy,    for    the 
purpose  of  remedying  the  great   evils   under   which    the 
people  of  the  South  have  suffered.     What  does  this  bill 
purpose  to  do?     It  purposes,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
examine,  nothing  in  the  world  conflicting  with  the  rights 
or  sovereignty  of  the  States  as  I  understand  it.     It  gives 
aid   to  their  schools  for  ten   years.     The   fund   is   to    be 
expended  altogether  under  State  control  in  aid  of  systems 
of  education  already  established  by  the  States,  and  so  far 
as  I  have  been  able  to  investigate  the  taxes  of  the  several 


414  LIFK    OF    VANCH. 

Southern  States,  it  will  not  cost  one  dollar  increase  in 
taxation  in  orde-r  to  bring  these  States  within  the  right  of 
the  benefits  of  this  act.  I  know'  that  it  would  not  in  my 
State  cost  a  doilar  of  increase. 

What  are  the  objections  to  the  bill  and  where  do  they 
come  from  ?  It  was  natural  to  suppose  that  from  the  strict 
construction  side  of  the  chamber  there  would  be  some  ob- 
jection to  the  bill  in  regard  to  its  constitutionality,  but  I 
was  not  prepared  to  see  that  question  raised  by  gentlemen 
from  the  other  side  of  the  chamber ;  and  I  especially  was 
not  prepared  to  see  it  raised  by  those  who  ask  for  money 
for  every  conceivable  subject  on  this  floor.  I  was  not  pre- 
pared to  see  it  raised  by  those  who  ask  for  money  to  enable 
the  government  of  the  United  States  to  go  into  a  Territory 
and  doctor  a  sick  cow.  I  did  not  expect  that.  I  have  as 
much  sympathy  for  the  suffering  cattle  uf  Kansas  as  any 
man  on  this  floor.  I  have  heard  of  the  disease  that  infects 
that  indispensable  animal  so  necessary  to  our  rotundity  and 
strength.  I  had  heard  of  the  agonies  they  suffer,  from  the 
tender  fledgeling  of  a  calf  to  the  great  bovine  mammoth 
that  bellows  upon  the  grassy  plain,  until  I  had  wished  to 
exclaim  :  Oh,  that  my  head  were  as  waters,  and  mine  eyes 
were  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  for  the  afflic- 
tions of  a  Kansas  calf. 

It  may  be  owing  to  my  imperfect  legal  education  or  to 
the  obtuseness  of  my  faculties,  but  I  cannot  see  the  differ- 
ence between  educating  a  child  and  doctoring  a  steer.  It 
seems  that  while  the  proper  solution  of  the  problem  of  the 
relation  of  virtue  and  intelligence  to  the  maintenance  and 
-perpetuity  of  free  institutions  is  a  simple  one  and  may  be 
safely  and  properly  left  to  the  States,  yet,  that  diagnosis  of 
an  ailing  calf  rises  at  once  into  national  dignity  and  towers 
over  the  educational  question  like  Jumbo  over  a  narrow 
gauge  mule,  or  a  cedar  of  Lebanon  over  a  chinquepin  bush. 
I  confess  to  my  inability  to  see  this  want  of  distinction. 

Our  friends  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  object   to  it, 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  415 

many  of  them.  It  is  lawful,  they  say,  to  give  money  to  the 
Mississippi  Valley  on  any  and  every  occasion  and  pre- 
text. The  Mississippi  must  have  money  when  its  waters 
are  too  low.  It  must  have  money  when  its  waters  are  too 
high.  They  must  have  money  not  only  to  scour  out  the 
channel,  but  to  build  levees  along  the  banks  to  keep  the 
plantations  from  overflowing.  It  is  a  lawful  stream  ;  it  must 
always  have  money.  But  while  you  must  protect  the  farm- 
er's cotton  plantation  along  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  it 
would  make  the  bones  of  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Chief  Jus- 
tice Marshall  turn  over  in  their  graves  if  there  is  any 
proposition  to  educate  the  child  who  lives  in  the  swamp 
that  is  to  be  reclaimed,  in  order  to  fit  him  for  citizenship. 
It  is  lawful,  some  say,  to  build  a  railroad  across  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  in  a  foreign  country,  but  it  is  not  lawful,  it  is 
absolutely  and  utterly  unconstitutional,  to  appropriate 
money  to  fit  men  for  citizenship. 

I  admit  that  the  present  circumstances  are  abnormal  and 
exceptional.  I  admit  that  there  is  no  special  provision  in 
the  constitution  or  one  perhaps  looking  directly  towards  it 
for  public  education.  But  the  men  who  formed  that  con- 
stitution had  no  idea  that  there  would  be  the  great  civil 
war  that  occurred.  They  had  no  idea  that  5,000,000  of 
slaves  would  be  liberated  by  that  war,  and  still  less  had 
they  any  idea  that  the  5,000,000  slaves  would  be  forced  by 
penal  laws,  constitutional  amendments  or  by  armies  and 
navies  or  what  not,  into  absolute  equality  of  citizenship 
with  the  white  race  who  discovered  this  country,  cut  down 
its  forests,  drove  its  aboriginal  inhabitants  away,  and  made 
the  wilderness  to  blossom  like  the  rose.  They  had  no  idea 
that  their  institutions  and  the  work  of  their  hand  would 
ever  be  committed  to  ignorant  and  unlettered  Africans  for 
protection  and  preservation.  If  they  had,  I  can  not  doubt 
from  the  wisdom  which  they  exhibited  in  all  they  did, 
they  would  have  inserted  counter  provisions  in  the  consti- 
tution providing  against  such  a  calamity.     I  can  not  doubt 


4l6  UFK    OF   VANCE. 

it.  They  say  that  this  money  ought  to  be  divided  accord- 
ing to  population  and  not  according  to  illiteracy.  That 
would  be  one  way  of  dividing  it.  If  you  call  it  a  gift,  a 
charity,  certainly  it  should  be  bestowed  upon  those  who 
most  need  it.  If  you  call  it  an  educational  fund,  it  should 
certainly  be  distributed  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
those  to  be  educated.  It  is  not  the  literate  but  the  illiter- 
ate who  are  to  be  educated.  So  it  seems  to  me  there  is  no 
other  just  way  to  divide  it.  Would  you  have  it  distrib- 
uted to  the  professors  of  the  colleges  of  the  country?  Would 
you  have  it  distributed  to  the  members  of  Congress?  Surely 
you  would  distribute  it,  if  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  educat- 
ing, to  those  who  most  need  it,  and  who  are  to  be  educated. 
It  seems  to  me  that  is  the  proper  way  of  dividing  it,  and 
no  other.  You  cannot  divide  it  according  to  taxes,  and  if 
you  distribute  it  according  to  population  you  will  defeat 
the  whole  objec.t  of  the  bill.  They  say  that  the  bill  gives 
too  much  money.  Several  Senators  have  said  that.  It 
comes  with  a  bad  grace,  it  seems  to  me,  when  those  who 
have  already  received  largely  of  the  benefits  of  public  edu- 
cation, or  education  paid  for  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  >^come  in  and  make  the  objection  that  it 
costs  too  much  money.  By  looking  at  the  reports  of  the 
commissioner  of  public  land  grants  to  the  various  States 
for  the  purpose  of  education  as  collated  in  the  American 
Almanac  of  Mr.  Sparford  of  1879,  I  find  that  the  States  of 
the  Northwest  have  received  70,213,534  acres,  which,  at 
$1.25  per  acre,  the  government  price,  makes  $87,765,667, 
while  the  vStates  of  the  South  have  only  received,  for  simi- 
lar purposes  6,434,446  acres  worth  $8,043,000.  So  the 
people  of  the  North  have  received  $80,000,000  in  property 
which  is  the  same  as  money  for  the  purpose  of  educating 
their  children  more  than  the  people  of  the  South.  I  am 
informed  by  those  who  have  made  the  calculation  that  the 
share  which  would  go  to  the  Southern  States  under  this 
bill  in  the  ten  years   to   come  will   be  about   $55,000,000, 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  417 

and  that  will  still  fall  short  ,^2 7,000,000  of  bringing  these 
States  np  to  an  eqnality  to  the  Northwestern  States  in  the 
matter  of  edncation  at  pnblic  expense,  and  yet  we  are  told 
that  the  bill  gives  too  much  money,  and  the  Senator  from 
Ohio,  Mr.  Sherman,  says  the  South  can  not  be  trusted  with 
it.  You  may  as  well  refuse  to  pay  a  man  what  you  owe 
him  because  }-ou  can  not  trust  him  with  the  money.  An- 
other Senator  objects  because  he  says  the  people  ought  to 
learn  to  depend  upon  themselves.  This  is  a  doctrine  I 
like  to  hear  advanced,  but  I  do  not  think  it  ought  to  come 
from  that  side  of  the  chamber,  having  received  all  the  pub- 
lic lands  that  was  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  locate  a  basis 
of  their  school  systems,  and  make  a  fund  for  permanent 
education  in  their  States,  that  they  state  to  the  rest  of  us 
that  we  should  learn  to  help  ourselves;  that  it  will  not  do 
to  depend  on  the  government. 

Mr.  President,  we  will  help  ourselves  if  you  will  take 
your  hands  off  of  us.  If  you  let  us  alone  we  will  agree  to 
help  ourselves.  If  you  will  quit  taxing  us  to  support  your 
factories  in  the  North  we  will  agree  to  help  ourselves.  If 
you  will  quit  taking  public  lands  to  build  railroads  in  the 
country  we  will  help  ourselves.  If  you  will  doctor  your 
own  sick  cows  and  calves  we  will  help  ourselves.  It  comes 
wath  a  very  bad  grace  indeed  from  a  portion  of  the  country 
where  all  the  fortunes  that  have  been  accvmiulated  have 
been  accumulated  by  making  everybody  help  them  by 
universal  taxation  of  private  funds  ;  to  come  here  when 
there  is  a  proposition  to  help  the  colored  people,  that  they 
themselves  forced  into  this  position  far  above  their  capacity 
to  occupy,  and  say  to  us,  "well,  you  must  help  yourselves." 
If  that  is  to  be  the  doctrine  all  along,  I  am  perfectly  will- 
ing ;  I  am  more  than  walling  to  it.  God  knows  all  that  I 
ask  for  the  people  of  my  section,  and  all  that  I  ever  expect 
to  ask  for  the  people  of  my  section  in  this  respect,  is  to  be 
let  alone.  Do  not  tax  us  to  build  up  your  shoe  factories. 
Do  not  tax  us  to  build  up  your  wool  factories.     Do  not 

28 


4i8  lifp:  of  vance. 

tax  us  to  build  your  iron  factories.  Do  not  tax  us  to 
build  up  every  industrial  scheme  that  you  have  got  in  the 
North  by  which  you  have  been  enabled  to  accumulate 
your  wealth,  and  then  turn  around  and  say  to  us,  when 
w^e  ask  for  a  little  help,  not  for  ourselves  so  much  as  for 
those  whom  you  have  thrust  upon  us,  with  the  right  of 
suffrage,  "we  will  not  give  it  to  \ou,  you  must  learn  to 
depend  upon  yourselves."  Mr.  President  I  do  not  expect 
this  bill  to  pass  ;  I  have  no  idea  that  it  will  pass.  I  have 
likewise  doubted,  and  I  say  it  with  proper  senatorial 
courtesy,  the  professions  of  many  gentlemen  on  the  other 
side,  when  they  were  so  interested  about  the  improvement, 
moral  and  intellectual  of  the  colored  race  of  the  South ; 
while  they  would  send  emissaries  among  them,  and  bind 
them  together  for  political,  party  purposes,  and  pat  them 
on  the  back,  and  run  them  forward  in  the  name  of 
freedom  and  advance  them  to  the  polls,  I  have  always 
believed  that  when  it  came  to  doing  something  real  for 
V  the  benefit  of  that  people  ffe&t  there  would  be  flinching, 
and  I  am  not  disappointed  at  finding  it.  When  the 
Senator  from  Ohio  got  up,  and  put  his  refusal  to  vote  for 
the  bill  on  the  ground  that  he  could  not  trust  the  people 
of  the  South  to  administer  this  money,  I  was  prepared  for 
his  ojDposition  to  be  put  upon  some  ground,  because  I  have 
no  doubt  that  he  considered  the  ignorant  negro  as  a  cause 
for  bloody  shirt,  and  a  fruitful  source  of  investigation,  but 
an  intelligent  negro  is  an  intelligent  voter  at  the  ballot 
box.  He  answers  his  purpose  now,  no  doubt,  far  better 
than  he  would  then.  In  reph'  to  the  charge,  to  the 
assumption  rather,  for  it  scarcely  amounts  to  a  charge, 
that  the  people  of  the  South  can  not  be  entrusted  to  dis- 
pose of  the  money  properly,  I  appeal  to  the  laws  of  all  of 
the  Southern  States  in  relation  to  the  education  in  com- 
.  mon  schools.  In  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  as  I  have 
explained,  there  are  more  than  one-half  million  dollars 
raised   annually    by    taxation,    to    which    is    added    funds 


LIFE    OF   VANCK.  419 

amounting  annually  to  about  $7,000,000  for  distribution, 
and  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  that  taxation  comes  from  the 
pockets  of  the  white  people,  and  the  men  who  voted  in  the 
party  opposite  to  the  party  in  which  the  black  people  are. 
The  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  which 
I  hold  in  my  h.and,  shows  that  in  full  proportion  to 
numbers  the  blacks  have  robbed  the  funds  of  that  taxation 
by  their  political  opposition,  and  as  our  laws  in  conformity 
with  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  forbids  any 
discrimination,  there  is  no  more  likelihood  that  any  of  this 
money  will  be  improperly  appropriated,  and  that  the 
whites  will  get  the  benefit  of  it  instead  of  the  blacks,  than 
there  is  that  any  such  political  dishonesty  will  be  com- 
mitted in  any  other  vState  or  community  in  the  Union. 
So  far  from  there  being  a  prejudice  in  North  Carolina 
against  the  education  of  the  black  people,  as  the  Senator 
from  Arkansas  (Mr.  Garland)  disclaimed  as  to  his  State, 
there  is  a  positive  desire  for  it.  The  intelligent  tax  payers 
of  North  Carolina  desire,  that  if  these  men  are  to  have 
the  right  of  suffrage  and  citizenship,  they  shall  be  suffi- 
ciently intelligent  to  exercise  these  rights  properly  and 
safely  to  the  country.  They  desire  that  their  workmen 
shall  have  sufficient  tools.  There  is  a  prejudice  there 
against  the  education  of  the  two  races  in  the  same  school 
house,  and  upon  the  same  bench.  The  law  provides  that 
that  shall  not  be  done.  There  is  not  a  prejudice,  but  a 
dislike  there  to  being  taxed  so  heavily  in  the  midst  of 
their  poverty,  when  scarcely  able  to  educate  their  own 
children,  for  the  education  of  those  who  have  been  thrust 
in  among  them  in  the  manner  which  I  have  described. 
It  is  grievous  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina  to  pay  so 
heavy  a  tax  for  that  purpose,  but  still  they  do  it,  and  they 
impose  it  upon  themselves.  It  is  not  the  machinery  of 
party  that  forces  it  upon  them.  The  Legislature  of  that 
State  had  been  Democratic  and  under  the  control  of  white 
men  for  years  and  years,  and  every  year  the  taxes  imposed 


420  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

for  public  education  have  become  higher  and  higher.  So 
as  the  bill  violates  none  of  the  laws  of  North  Carolina,  as 
it  purposes  to  interfere  with  no  part  of  the  system  of  edu- 
cation of  North  Carolina,  but  simply  to  aid  it,  and  as  it  is 
to  endure  for  an  express  time,  and  not  for  all  time,  I  feel 
that  it  is  my  duty  to  vote  for  the  bill,  and  I  shall  do  so. 

Mr.  President,  the  Senator  from  IMassachusetts  (Mr. 
Hoar)  read  a  lecture  the  other  day  in  which  he  stated  that 
the  old  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  still  led  the 
column  in  the  matter  of  education.  Now,  let  us  see  how 
far  she  leads  the  column.  How  far  she  actually  leads  it, 
and  how  far  she  ought  to  lead  it.  The  value  of  property 
in  Massachusetts  in  1880  was  $1,584,000,000,  and  her  total 
taxes  were  $24,323,000,  twenty  per  cent,  of  which  is  de- 
voted to  school  purposes,  and  the  rate  of  taxation  on  the 
$iQO  is  $1.53.  The  total  valuation  of  the  property  of  North 
Carolina  for  the  same  year  was  $156,100,000,  and  the  total 
taxes  very  nearly  $2,000,000,  eighteen  per  cent,  of  which  is 
for  schools,  and  the  rate  of  taxation  in  that  State  is  $1.22. 
So  we  see  that  while  the  wealth  of  Massachusetts  is  ten 
times  greater  than  that  of  North  Carolina,  the  amount  of  her 
taxes  devoted  to  school  purposes  is  only  nine  times  greater 
than  in  North  Carolina,  and  the  per  centage  of  her  taxes 
which  is  devoted  to  education  is  only  two  per  cent,  greater 
than  in  North  Carolina.  Sir,  I  think  that  is  doing  pretty 
well  for  North  Carolina,  and  when  we  come  to  consider  the 
way  in  which  that  old  Commonwealth  got  her  wealth,  I 
think  that  her  Senators  are  as  little  entitled  to  taunt  the 
South,  on  her  poverty  and  illiteracy,  as  those  who  have 
received  public  land  grants  in  aid  of  education.  For  it  is 
known  to  everybody  acquainted  with  the  financial  history 
of  this  country  that  the  whole  country  has  been  taxed  to 
support  Massachusetts  ever  since  the  government  was 
formed.  North  Carolina  has  considered  her  one  of  her 
chief  paupers,  and  the  sum  annually  paid  in  the  consump- 
tion of  manufactured  articles  in  North  Carolina  for  the  sup- 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  421 

port  of  Massachusetts  would  render  her  taxes  far  ahead  of 
the  taxes  of  INfassachusctts.  In  the  conclusion  of  his  speech 
the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  used  an  epithet  towards 
the  State  of  North  Carolina.  Shot  it  back  at  her  as  he 
took  his  seat,  and  he  rolled  it  under  his  tongue,  evidently 
as  though  he  had  been  studying  it  up  a  long  while.  He 
spoke  of  North  Carolina  as  the  tail  State.  Now  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, I  wish  to  say — 

Mr.  Hoar — The  Senator  misunderstood  me.  If  he  will 
look  at  the  report  of  what  I  said  he  will  see  that  he  does 
not  quote  me  correctly. 

Mr.  Vance — I  have  it  before  me,  and  I  do  not  think  I 
can  be  mistaken  in  it.  The  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
said  :  "I  do  not  think  that  with  these  statistics  coming  by 
State  authority  to  the  United  States  government  year  by 
year  that  there  will  be  Senators  from  North  Carolina  mak- 
ing such  speeches  as  we  heard  yesterday.  That  State  will 
have  something  else  to  say  if  she  is  the  tail  vState  among 
the  38  of  the  American  Commonwealths  in  the  matter  of 
her  school  children  than  what  her  Senator  told  us  on  this 
floor  yesterday."  I  presume  the  Senator  will  stand  by  the 
record,  will  he  not  ? 

I  was  oroincr  to  sav  that  as  a  matter  of  course  it  was  a 
subject  of  mortification  to  me  as  well  as  to  the  other  South- 
ern Senators  to  be  constantly  made  aware  of  the  fact  that 
our  States  are  at  the  tail  end  of  illiteracy.  But,  sir,  there 
is  a  deeper  depth  of  mortification  ;  and  I  am  much  in  the 
condition  of  a  young  man  of  whom  I  once  heard  who  had 
the  misfortune  of  being  knocked  down  in  a  fight  with  a 
circus  company.  Though  not  much  injured,  he  took  to  his 
bed  as  though  it  would  break  his  heart,  and  in  reply  to 
those  who  endeavored  to  console  him  by  telling  him  that 
any  man  was  liable  to  be  knocked  down,  that  there  was 
nothing  in  that.  "Oh,  yes,"  said  he,  "I  know  that;  but, 
Lord !  Lord !  they  knocked  me  down  with  the  same  stick 
they  stirred  the  monkeys  with."      [Laughter.] 


422  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

It  is  a  source  of  mortification  to  nie  for  any  Senator  to 
get  up  and  appeal  to  the  figures  and  say  that  my  State  is  at 
the  bottom  in  regard  to  illiteracy,  but  it  adds  a  pang  to  the 
sharpness  of  that  mortification,  it  adds  another  under-story 
to  the  depth  of  that  humiliation,  to  be  told  so  by  the  Sena- 
tor from  the  Tewksbury  State;  a  Senator  from  a  State  that 
has  fattened  on  public  taxation  of  this  country;  a  State 
that  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  foundation  of  our  gov- 
ernment, rather  of  our  struggle  for  independence,  has 
sacrificed  every  principle  and  every  profession  that  was  in- 
convenient for  the  purpose  of  gain,  to  taunt  those  with 
poverty  who  have  been  kept  poor  by  the  process  of  plun- 
der! A  State  that  is  more  responsible  under  heaven  than 
any  other  community  in  this  land  for  the  introduction  of 
slavery  into  this  continent,  with  all  the  curses  that  have 
followed  it ;  that  is  the  nursing  mother  of  the  horrors  of 
the  middle  passage,  and  that,  after  slavery  in  Massachu- 
setts was  found  not  to  pay,  sold  those  slaves  down  South 
for  a  consideration,  and  then  thanked  God,  and  sang  the 
long  metre  doxology  through  their  noses,  that  they  were 
not  responsible  any  longer  for  the  sin  of  human  slavery, 
should  at  least  be  modest  in  applying  epithets  to  her 
neighbors. 

If  I  may  be  permitted  to  disturb  the  dignified  solemni- 
ties of  this  body  for  one  moment  I  will  state  what  it  re- 
minds me  of.  I  heard  once  of  an  old  maid  who  got  religion 
at  a  camp  meeting.  Immediately  after  she  experienced 
the  change  she  commenced  exhorting  the  younger  and 
prettier  women  in  regard  to  wearing  jewelry  and  gewgaws, 
and  warned  them  against  the  pernicious  consequence  to 
piety  of  such  vanities.  "Oh!  girls,"  she  said,  "I  tell  you, 
I  used  to  wear  ear  rings  and  finger  rings  and  laces  and  fur- 
belows like  you  do,  but  I  found  that  they  were  dragging 
my  immortal  soul  down  to  hell,  and  I  stripped  them  every 
one  off  and  sold  them  to  my  younger  sister  Sally."  [Laugh- 
ter.]     That's  the  way  Massachusetts  relieved  herself  from 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  423 

slavery.  That's  the  way  she  preserved  her  whiteness  of  soul. 
Now,  there  was  no  necessity  for  the  remark  of  the  Sen- 
ator from  Massachnsetts.  I  had  made  no  assault  upon 
him.  I  was  supporting  the  bill,  as  I  supposed  he  was. 
He  was  supporting  it  in  his  peculiar  way,  and  I  was  sup- 
porting it  in  mine,  and  the  remark,  as  you  will  see,  is 
entirely  illogical,  inconsequential  and  disconnected.  It 
was  a  pure  emanation  of  venom  towards  the  Southern  peo- 
ple and  towards  my  State.  There  was  no  necessity  for  it, 
and  I  have  felt  if  my  duty  to  allude  to  it  as  I  have  done. 
I  Wish  to  repeat,  as  I  close,  the  remarks  which  I  made 
when  this  discussion  opened.  I  do  not  stand  here  to  ask 
for  this  bill  for  the  benefit  of  the  white  people  of  North 
Carolina.  They  do  need  aid  of  course,  but  they  would  not 
need  it,  if  their  ability  to  pay  taxes  and  to  educate  their  own 
people,  could  be  concentrated  upon  their  own  color,  but  the 
colored  people  in  their  midst  are  citizens  of  North  Carolina. 
They  are  entitled  to  the  same  treatment  precisely  that  any 
other  citizens  of  North  Carolina  are  entitled  to  at  the  hands 
of  the  law-makers   of  the  State.       There  is  now,  and  there 

has  been  no  di,<=nosi  tion  to  treat  them  in  any  other-  way.  Poor 
ox'iis  ai  ...... 

as  we  are,  -^q  ^^jjixes  are  levied  indiscriminately   without 

regard  to  race  or  color,  and  expended  for  the  benefit  of  all 
the  illiterate  children  of  North  Carolina.  In  consequence 
of  that  burden,  in  consequence  of  the  condition  that  every 
man  knows  that  the  State  of  North  Carolina  and  the  South 
was  placed  in  by  the  results  of  the  war,  I  have  felt  it  my 
duty  to  support  this  bill  in  order  to  get  what  relief  I  could 
and  against  the  dangers  and  evils  of  illiteracy  that  the 
State  is  not  competent  to  oppose.  I  wish  to  say  that  these 
constant  taunts  and  twittings  of  the  States  of  the  South 
with  their  poverty  and  their  inability  to  keep  their  people 
properly  educated,  have  long  ago  ceased  to  be  merely  a  want 
of  magnanimity,  and  have  passed  in  the  boundaries  of 
positive  and  absolute  meanness.  It  threatens  to  convert 
the  insolent  pride  of  Tom  Bounderby,  of  Coketown,  into 
pious  humility  and  to  elevate  by  contrast  the  character  of 
Pecksniff  into  that  of  a  most  respectable  Christian  gentle- 
man.    Magnanimous  Senators  would  not  do  it,  sir. 


424  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


^^>k 


PRESIDENT    DAVIS'    REPORTED    THREAT    TO    COERCE    THE 
SECEDING  STATES. 

Remarks  in  the  Senate  Contradicting  Statement  o|f  General  Sherman 
that  President  Davis  Had  Threatened  to  Coerce  North  Carolina  if 
Vance  Should  Attempt  to  Take  the  State  Out  of  the  Confederacy. 

THE  Senate  having  under  consideration  the  following 
resolution  relating  to  a  paper  filed  in  the  War  De- 
partment by  General  Sherman,  affecting  the  conduct  of 
Jefferson  Davis  and  others,  to-wit : 

Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is 
hereby  requested,  if  in  his  opinion  it  be  not  incompatible  with  the 
public  interest,  to  communicate  to  the  Senate  a  historical  statement 
concerning  the  public  policy  of  the  executive  department  of  the  Con- 
federate Stafes  during  the  late  war  of  the  rebellir-     renorted  to  have 


s,  th^_^i^ 


been  latel}-  filed  in  the  War  Department  by  Geuf  '         '^.liam  T.  Sher- 
man. "  i.ur- 

Mr.  Vance  said : 

Mr,  President:  As  the  Senate  will  probably  pass  this 
resolution  and  place  upon  its  records  an  unofficial  paper, 
filed  in  the  War  Department  by  General  W.  T.  Sherman, 
which  contains  statements  affecting  certain  persons,  it  is 
but  right  and  proper  that  all  persons  so  affected  should  be 
heard  in  the  same  forum.  As  one  thus  interested,  I  desire 
to  notice  some  statements  made  in  that  communication  to 
the  War  Department.  In  order  that  I  may  not  be  misin- 
terpreted I  have  placed  in  writing  the  material  portions  of 
what  I  desire  to  say,  which  shall  be  very  brief. 

It  is  understood  and,  I  believe,  not  denied  that  in  a  speech 
made  not  long  since  in  Saint  Louis,  Mo.,  General  Sherman 
said  he  had  seen  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  to 
a  Governor  of  a  Southern  State  during  the  war,  now  a  Sen- 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  425 

ator,  in   which   Mr.  Davis  threatened   the  coercion  of  any 
Southern  State  that  should  attempt  to  secede  from  the  Con- 
federacy.    As  there  are,  I   believe,   three  Senators  at  least 
on  this  floor  who  were  Governors  of  Southern  States  during 
the  war,   myself  being  one,  I    immediately  on  the  appear- 
ance of  that  statement  denied  through  the  Post  of  this  city 
that  any  such  letter  had  ever  been  received  by  me.     The 
newspapers  soon    afterward  stated  that  General  Sherman 
had  been  interviewed  as  to  my  denial,  and  had  stated  that  he 
had  not  alluded  to  me   as  the   person  to  whom  the  alleged 
letter  had  been  addressed.     I  very  naturally   thought  that 
this  denial  at  both  ends  of  the  line  had  concluded  the  mat- 
ter so   far  as  I   was  concerned ;  but  it  seems  not.     In  the 
statement  filed  in  the  War  Department,  as  published  in  the 
papers  of  the  country,  I  find  the  following  assertion  : 

At  Raleigh,  though  the  mass  of  the  public  records  had  been  car- 
ried off,  yet  a  number  were  left  behind  at  the  State-house  and  at  the 
Governor's  mansion,  called  the  "palace,"  which  we  occupied  as  head- 
quarters during  our  stay  there,  namely,  from  April  13  to  April  29,  1865. 

These  records  and  papers  were  overhauled  by  provosts-marshal 
and  clerks,  who  delivered  to  Adjutant-General  vSawyer  such  as  con- 
tained material  information,  and  my  personal  attention  was  only  drawn 
to  such  as  were  deemed  of  sufficient  importance.  Among  the  books 
collected  at  the  palace  in  Raleigh  was  a  clerk's  or  secretary's  "copy- 
book," containing  loose  sheets  and  letters,  among  which  was  the  par- 
ticular letter  of  Mr.  Davis  to  which  I  referred  in  my  Saint  Louis 
"speech."  I  gave  it  little  attention  at  the  time,  because  Mr.  Davis  was 
then  himself  a  fugitive,  and  his  opinion  had  little  or  no  importance, 
but  it  explained  to  my  mind  why  Governor  Vance,  after  sending  to  me 
commissioners  to  treat  for  his  State  separately,  had  not  awaited  my 
answer.  It  was  the  subject  of  common  talk  about  my  headquarters 
at  the  time,  or,  as  stated  by  Colonel  Dayton  in  a  recent  letter  to  me 
from  Cincinnati,  "I  am  quite  sure  that  we  generally  talked  [that]  it 
was  the  desire  of  Governor  Vance  and  the  State  officials  to  take  North 
Carolina  out  of  the  Confederacy,  as  I  have  stated,  but  they  were  afraid 
of  Jefferson  Davis  and  wanted  protection." 

Concerning  this   I  have   the   following  observations  to 
make : 

I.     That  no  letters  or  documents  of  a  public  character 


426  LIKE    OF   VANCE. 

were  ever  left  at  my  residence  in  the  Governor's   mansion, 
while  I  was  Governor,  at  any  time. 

2.  Nq  clerk  or  secretary  of  mine  ever  used  as  a  reposi- 
tory for  my  correspondence  a  "copy-book ;"  all  official  or 
public  letters  being  first  copied  in  the  letter-book  required 
by  law  to  be  kept  in  the  executive  office,  and  then  bound 
into  bundles  and  placed  in  the  files,  wdiere  they  remain  to 
this  day. 

3.  General  Sherman  did  not  find  in  that  copy-book  "the 
particular  letter  of  Mr.  Davis  to  which  he  referred  in  his 
Saint  Louis  speech,"  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  was 
no  such  letter  there. 

4.  I  aver  most  positively,  on  the  honor  of  a  gentleman 
and  an  American  Senator,  that  no  letter  containing  such  a 
threat  was  ever  received  by  me  from  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis. 
All  letters  from  him  to  me  of  any  nature  are  to  be  found 
copied  in  the  letter-books  of  the  executive  department  of 
North  Carolina,  now  in  the  War  Department  in  this  city. 

The  reasons  given  by  General  Sherman  by  way  of  cor- 
roborating his  statement  are  such  as  would  scarcely  be 
relied  upon  by  a  respectable  lawyer.  He  says  he  paid 
"little  attention  to  it  at  the  time,"  and  does  not  say  that  he 
ever  saw  it  afterward ;  and  further,  that  Mr.  Davis  was  then 
himself  a  fugitive,  and  his  opinion  had  little  or  no  impor- 
tance! It  was,  perhaps,  the  little  attention  given  to  the 
opinions  of  an  unimportant  man  that  enabled  him  to  re- 
member so  well  the  contents  of  the  letter  in  which  they 
were  expressed  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  twenty  years !  The 
suggestion  as  to  the  probable  fate  of  that  mysterious  letter, 
that  it  was  burned  in  the  great  fire  in  Chicago,  is  a  mere 
apology  for  its  non-production,  which  at  the  same  time 
contradicts  the  idea  of  its  importance ;  for  had  it  been 
such  as  he  says  it  was,  it  would  certainly  have  found  its 
way  to  the  public  files. 

But  there  is  another  matter  averred  by  General  Slierman 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  427 

that  more  nearly  concerns  me,  and  to  which   I  shall  very 
briefly  ask  the  attention  of  the  Senate. 

It  may  be  that  Northern  gentlemen  who  were  on  the  vic- 
torions  side  during  the  civil  war  can  not  properly  appreci- 
ate the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  those  who  were  on  the 
side  of  misfortune  and  defeat.  They  seem  to  regard  it  as 
quite  a  sin  that  we  do  not  readily  join  in  the  denunciations 
of  him  who  was  our  leader  in  the  war,  and  hasten  to  con- 
demn him  on  all  occasions  as  the  surest  way  of  excusing 
our  conduct  and  commending  ourselves  to  the  good  opin- 
ion of  our  late  opponents.  Surely  no  man  of  even  the 
slio-htest  sense  of  honor  could  respect  a  Southern  man  who 
would  thus  debase  himself.  Surely  the  most  flagrant  and 
rampant  trafficker  in  the  issues  of  sectional  hatred  would 
prefer  an  adversary  who  v.-alked  upright  on  his  feet  to  the 
one  who  crawled  upon  his  belly.  If  not,  what  must  be 
thought  of  his  own  manhood? 

Now,  sirs,  be  it  known  to  you,  that  those  of  us  who 
pledged  our  faith  to  each  other  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Confederacy  gave  up  all  for  which  we  contended  when  it 
failed,  retaining  to  ourselves  only  one  solitary  satisfying 
reflection,  and  that  was  that  we  had  at  least  served  our 
country  faithfully,  honestly,  and  devotedly,  as  we  under- 
stood it. 

This  satisfaction  General  Slierman's  statement  would  to 
some  extent  take  from  me,  and  this  it  is,  sir,  which  I  resent. 
It  is  well  known  that  I  was  drawn  into  secession  unwil- 
lingly ;  it  is  also  well  known  that  in  regard  to  many  of  the 
the  details  of  administration  I  was  at  variance  with  the 
authorities  of  the  Confederate  government ;  but  it  is  equally 
well  known,  I  hope,  that,  after  my  own  honor  was  engaged 
and  the  honor  of  my  native  State,  there  never  was  an  hour 
during  all  that  unhappy  time  in  which  I  did  not  give  every 
energy  of  my  body,  mind,  and  soul  to  the  success  of 
the  cause  to  which  I  had  pledged  my  allegiance.  General 
Sherman,  professing  high  respect  for  me,  for  which  I  thank 


428  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

him,  thinks,  perhaps,  that  he  does  me  a  kindness  and  com- 
mends me  to  the  people  of  the  country  by  holding  out  the 
idea  that  I  was  disaffected  while  Governor  toward  the  cause 
for  which  I  was  ostensibly  fighting,  and  that  I  was  anxious 
to  separate  myself  and  State  from  the  Confederacy,  but  was 
restrained  by  fear.  Sir,  I  want  no  man's  respect  or  good- 
will based  on  the  supposed  virtues  of  treason  to  my  coun- 
try and  the  desertion  of  my  associates.  The  good-will  of  a 
man  who  would  respect  these  traits  in  another  is  not  worth 
picking  up  from  the  dust  of  the  common  highways.  Gen- 
eral Sherman  says  that  the  commissioners  whom  I  sent  to 
meet  him  as  he  approached  Raleigh,  to-wit :  ex-Governor 
Swain  and  ex-Governor  Graham  and  Surgeon-General 
Warren,  told  him  that  I  wanted  to  make  separate  terms  for 
the  State,  but  was  afraid  of  "Jeff  Davis."  I  do  not  believe 
it.  It  can  not  be  true.  The  two  gentlemen  first  named 
are  dead;  they  were  eminent  North  Carolinians  of  most  ex- 
alted character  in  all  respects,  and  most  especially  for 
truth.  They  kiiezv  I  was  faithful  to  the  Confederacy  ;  they 
knew  that  I  was  not  afraid  of  opposing  Mr.  Davis  when  I 
differed  from  him,  because  they  had  seen  me  constantly 
doing  it,  and  they  never  told  General  Sherman  or  any  other 
living  man  the  contrary  of  what  they  knew  to  be  true  as 
perfectly  as  any  men  in  North  Carolina. 

The  other  commissioner,  Th.  Edward  Warren,  was  Sur- 
geon-General of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  is  now  living, 
and  is  an  eminent  physician  in  Paris.  His  statement  would 
surely  carry  as  much  proof  of  what  was  said  there  as  that 
of  the  witness  cited  to  prove  that  there  was  talk  about 
camp  of  "  the  desire  of  Governor  Vance  and  other  State 
officials  to  take  North  Carolina  out  of  the  Confederacy,  but 
they  were  afraid  of  Jeff.  Davis  and  wanted  protection." 
True  it  is  that  I  sent  a  commission  to  him  under  a  flag  of  truce 
to  ask  protection,  not  separate  terms  for  the  people  of  my 
State,  but  at  that  moment  the  war  was  virtually  ended. 
Lee  had  surrendered,  Richmond  had  fallen.  President  Davis 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  4^9 

and  his  official  household  were  fugitives,  and  General 
Tohnstou,  co.uuianding  the  last  remnant  of  an  aru.y  devoted 
to  the  South,  was  about  to  .narch  westward,  no  o"e  knew 
whither,  and  uncover  the  capital  of  the  State.  W.th  h.s 
consent  and  approbation  that  embassy  was  sent,  and  throng  . 
his  lines  under  his  permit  it  went.  Before  its'eturn  Ral- 
ei..h  was  uncovered  and  I  had  left  to  join  Mr.  Davis,  at 
Charlotte,  where  the  surrender  of  General  Jf'-t <>"  ™^ 
authorized  and  the  finality  of  things  brought  about.  1  hen 
and  there  I  toolc  my  leave  of  Mr.  Davis  and  ot  the  Confed- 
eracy, and  went  back  with  his  full  approbation  to  share  the 

fate  of  my  people. 

General  Sherman  finds  an  explanation  of  my  failure  to 
await  the  return  of  my  embassy  in  the  contents  of  the  mys- 
terious letter-that  I  was  afraid  of  Davis,  then  a  fuguive 
without  an  army.     Bold  enough  he  says  I  was  to  send  an 
embassy  to  the  enemy,  but  I  was  afraid  to  await  its  retnrr 
Was  ever  conclusions  more  absurd?     The  reason  why  I 
did  not  wait  was  that  I  had  been  told  my  embassy,  after 
passing  through  the  Confederate  lines,  had  been  captured 
by  Kifpatrick's  cavalry,  promptly  robbed  of  their  personal 
effects,  and  taken  before  General  Sherman  as  prisoners. 
Not  returning  up  to  midnight  of  the  ^^Y  -  *  ^^  *?>' 
were  sent,  I  conclnd  d  this  to  be  true,  and  left  with  the 

retreatius:  troops. 

How  well  and  how  faithfully  I  served  the  lost  cause  the 
countrv  knows.  My  own  people,  sir,  about  whose  opinion 
I  am  most  concerned,  will  wonder  that  anybody  can  be 
found  to  question  it. 


430  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

LECTURE THE     POLITIC AE    AND    SOCIAL    SOUTH     DURING 

THE    WAR. 

Lecture  Delivered  Before  the  Andrew  Post,  No.  15,  of  the  Grand  Army, 
in  Boston,  Mass.,  December  8,  1886 — A  Heroic  and  Manly  State- 
ment of  the  South's  Position — The  War  Not  a  Rebellion — The 
Southern  Soldiers  Not  Rebels — The  Ordinance  by  which  the  State 
Entered  the  L^nion  Repealed  by  the  Same  Power — How  Could  that 
be  Treason? — Massachusetts  in  the  Hartford  Convention  Took  the 
Position  Assumed  by  the  Southern  States  in  1861 — Slavery  Not 
the  Cause  of  the  War,  Only  the  Occasion— Massachusetts  and  Other 
Northern  States  Brought  vSlaves  here  and  Sold  them  to  the  South 
— A  Constitutional  Principle  was  Involved  in  Like  IManner  as  in 
the  War  of  1776 — Congress  so  Declared  in  1862 — The  Rich  Man's 
War  and  the  Poor  Man's  Fight — Good  Conduct  of  the  Blacks — The 
Conscript  Law  a  Mistake — A  Source  of  Weakness — Vance's  Regi- 
ment— Its  Fatalities  and  Bloody  History — State  and  Confederate 
Governments  Sought  to  Preserve  Personal  Liberty — Not  so  in  Fed- 
eral Government— Resources  of  the  South — Blockading — Supplies 
Broiight  in  by  the  Advance  and  Other  Vessels — Devotion  and  Sac- 
rifices of  the  Women  of  the  South — Diet  and  Beverages  of  the 
Soi;thern  People — Humorous  Reflections. 

Y  presence  here  to-night,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
occasions  me  a  degree  of  embarrassment.  I  was 
prominently  involved  in  the  affairs  about  which  I  propose  to 
speak,  having  taken  an  active  part  in  both  the  military  and 
civil  transactions  of  my  State  during  the  period  of  the  war. 
On  the  one  hand  I  am  under  the  duress  of  your  hospitality, 
which  tempts  me  to  say  the  things  which  would  prove  most 
agreeable  to  you ;  on  the  other  hand,  I  somewhat  fear  that, 
if  I  should  be  too  plain  spoken,  I  might  become  liable  to 
the  charge  of  abusing  the  privileges  of  a  guest.  Should  I 
fail  in  properly  avoiding  either  extreme  I  beg  you  to  give 
me  credit  for  good  intentions  at  least.  I  honestly  desire  to 
speak  the  simple  truth  as  it  appears  to  me.     This  I  believe 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  431 

is  what  yon  wish  to  hear!  [Cries,  "that's  what  we  want."] 
Necessarily  ni}'  remarks  will  be  discursive  and  with  no  pre- 
tension to  the  preciseness  and  continuity  of  narration  which 
should  characterize  a  historical  essay.  I  shall  endeavor  to 
entertain  you  for  a  brief  space  with  the  ideas  and  observa- 
tions of  occurrences  as  they  appeared  to  a  Southern  man 
concerning  the  great  civil  war. 

It  is  proper  that  you  should  hear  the  inscription  read 
upon  the  other  side  of  the  shield. 

This  generation  is  yet  too  near  to  the  great  struggle  to  deal 
with  it  in  the  true  historic  spirit.  Yet  it  is  well  enough 
for  you  to  remember  that  the  South  is  quite  as  far  removed 
from  it  as  is  the  North ;  and  the  North  has  industriously  un- 
dertaken from  the  beginning  to  write  the  histor}-  of  that 
contest  between  the  sections,  to  set  forth  its  causes  and  to 
justify  its  results — and  naturally  in  the  interest  of  the  vic- 
torious side.  It  is  both  wise  and  considerate  of  you  to  let 
the  losing  side  be  heard  in  your  midst.  If  you  should  re- 
fuse to  do  so  it  will  nevertheless  be  heard  in  time,  before 
that  great  bar,  the  public  opinion  of  the  world,  whose  juris- 
diction you  cannot  avoid,  and  whose  verdict  you  cannot 
unduly  influence.  Neither  side  acts  wisely  in  attempting 
to  foixsLall  that  verdict ! 

It  is  well  to  remen^ber,  too,  that  epithets  and  hard  names, 
which  assume  the  guilt  that  is  to  be  proven,  will  not  serve 
for  arguments  for  the  future  Bancrofts  and  Hildredths  of 
the  Republic,  except  for  the  purpose  of  warning  them 
against  the  intemperate  partiality  of  their  authors. 

The  modest  action  of  the  common  law  should  be  imi- 
tated in  the  treatment  of  historic  questions,  which  consid- 
ers every  accused  person  as  innocent  until  his  guilt  is 
proven.  Murder  is  treated  as  simply  homicide  until  there 
is  proof  that  the  killing  was  felonious. 

In  treating,  for  example,  of  all  questions  pertaining  to 
the  war,  you  assume  the  guilt  of  your  adversaries  at  the 
outset.      You  speak  of  the  secession  movement  as  a  rebel- 


432  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

lion,  and  you  characterize  all  who  participated  in  it  as 
"rebels  and  traitors!"  Your  daily  literature,  as  well  as 
your  daih'  conversation,  teems  with  it.  Your  school  his- 
tories and  books  of  elementary  instruction  impress  it  in 
almost  every  page  upon  the  young.  Your  laws,  State  and 
Federal,  have  enacted  the  terms.  Yet  every  lawyer  and 
intelligent  citizen  among  you  must  be  well  aware  that  in 
a  technical  and  legal  sense  there  ivas  no  r^ebellioji^  and  there 
were  no  rebels!  Should  this  not  be  admitted,  however,  I 
am  sure  there  will  be  no  denial  of  the  fact  that  you  once 
had  the  opportunity  of  obtaining  an  authoritative  decision 
of  the  highest  court,  not  only  of  the  United  States,  but  of 
the  world,  on  this  very  question — and  that  opportunity 
was  not  embraced. 

I  hope  you  will  not  be  alarmed ;  it  is  not  my  intention 
to  make  you  listen  to  an  argument  in  favor  of  the  right  of 
secession.  I  only  wish  to  remind  you  of  some  of  \.\\q  prima 
facie  reasons  why  the  people  of  the  North — and  of  Massachu- 
setts in  particular — should  not  assume  the  verdict  of  his- 
tory in  their  favor  when  they  declined  to  test  the  verdict 
of  the  law.      [Applause.] 

In  attempting  to  withdraw  herself  from  the  Union  of  the 
States  by  repealing,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1861,  the  ordi- 
nance by  the  adoption  of  which  she  had  entered  the  Union 
on  the  2ist  of  November,  1789,  against  whom  and  what 
did  North  Carolina  rebel?  To  whom  had  she  sworn  alle- 
giance ?  Certainly  to  nobody ;  to  no  government ;  to  noth- 
ing but  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  Was  she 
violating  that  oath  when  she  thus  withdrew?  When  Vir- 
ginia and  New  York  reserved,  upon  their  accession  to  the 
constitution,  their  right  to  withdraw  from  the  same,  and 
declared  that  the  powers  therein  granted  might  be  resumed 
whenever  the  same  shall  be  perverted  to  "their  injury  or 
oppression,"  did  those  States  reserve  the  right  to  commit 
treason?  When  Massachusetts  openly  threatened  to  sepa- 
rate from  the  Union  upon  the  admission  of  Louisiana  as  a 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  433 

State,  was  she  conscious  that  she  was  threatening  treason 
and  rebellion?  When  her  Legislature,  in  1803,  "resolved 
that  the  annexation  of  Louisiana  to  the  Union  transcends 
the  constitutional  power  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States,"  and  that  it  "formed  a  new  Confederacy  to  which 
the  States  united  by  the  former  compact  are  not  bound  to 
adhere,"  was  not  that  a  declaration  that  secession  was  a 
constitutional  remedy?  Again,  the  same  principle  was 
proclaimed  by  the  authority  of  Massachusetts  in  the  Hart- 
ford Convention,  where  it  was  declared  "that  when  emer- 
gencies occur  which  are  either  beyond  the  reach  of  judicial 
tribunals  or  too  pressing  to  admit  of  delay  incident  to  their 
forms,  States  which  have  no  common  umpire  must  be  their 
own  judges  and  execute  their  own  decisions."  With  such 
a  record,  to  which  might  be  added  page  after  page  of  cor- 
roborating quotation  from  her  statesmen  and  her  archives, 
should  not  the  ancient  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts 
be  a  little  modest  in  denouncing  as  "traitors"  those  whose 
sin  consisted  in  the  following  of  her  example?  It  has  been 
said  that  the  groundwork  and  essence  of  the  doctrine  of 
secession  was  laid  in  the  Virginia  resolutions  of  1798,  of 
which  Mr.  Madison,  the  leading  spirit,  the  Morning  Star 
of  the  convention  which  formed  the  constitution,  was  the 
author.  If  so,  let  it  be  remembered  these  resolutions  were 
submitted  to  every  State  in  the  then  Union,  of  course,  in- 
cluding Massachusetts ;  were  expressly  or  tacitly  approved 
by  all,  and  disapproved  by  none. 

Indeed,  it  may  be  said  generally  that  during  the  period 
of  discussion  concerning  the  adoption  of  the  constitution 
by  the  several  States,  it  was  taken  for  granted  that  any 
State  becoming  dissatisfied  might  withdraw  from  the  com- 
pact,y2?r  cause  of  which  she  was  to  be  her  own  judge.  The 
old  articles  of  Confederation  declared  that  the  Union  formed 
thereunder  should  be  perpetual ;  this  clause  was  purposely, 
and  after  discus.sion,  left  out  of  the  new  constitution.  The 
great  danger  apprehended  by  the  statesmen  of  that  day  was 

29 


434  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

that  the  Federal  government  would  gradually  encroach 
upon  and  absorb  the  rights  of  the  States.  In  deference  to 
this  fear  the  Tenth  Amendment  was  adopted,  chiefly  on  the 
urgent  instigation  of  Massachusetts,  expressly  reserving  to 
the  States  all  rights  not  delegated.  Still  these  fears  re- 
mained. In  fact  these  encroachments  upon  the  rights  of 
States  have  constituted  for  three-fourths  of  the  century  the 
great  distinguishing  subject  of  contention  between  Ameri- 
can statesmen,  during  all  of  which  time  it  was  claimed 
that  secession  was  a  constitutional  remedy  therefor.  If  it 
had  been  understood  that  over  the  doors  of  the  constitu- 
tion were  written  nulla  restigia  retrorsiim  ;  that  the  State 
which  entered  there  could  never  more  depart  thence,  what- 
ever might  be  the  injuries  and  oppressions  inflicted  upon 
her,  how  many  States  would  have  entered  therein?  What 
would  jealous,  sensitive  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina  have  said  to  such  a  proposition  ?  Would  they 
have  subjected  their  citizens  to  a  condition  of  things 
wherein  North  Carolina,  for  examj^le,  could  have  hung  a 
man  in  her  borders  if  he  refused  to  fight  for  her,  and  Mas- 
sachusetts and  the  others  could  have  hung  him  if  he  did  ? 
The  essence  of  all  crime  is  to  be  found  in  the  criminal 
intent.  Now  the  object  of  these  brief  references  to  the 
doctrine  of  secession  is  to  ask  you  and  the  conservative, 
legal  sentiment  of  the  Northern  people  how  you  could 
convict  and  execute  a  man  for  the  intentional  commission 
of  a  crime,  when  the  greatest  intellects  of  the  whole 
American  people  had  not  been  able  to  deterime  that  the 
act  committed  zuas  a  crime  ;  when  the  act  committed  had 
been  pronounced  a  constitutional  right,  an  essential  muni- 
ment of  freedom,  by  Legislatures  of  great  States,  by  a 
long  line  of  great  and  glorious  statesmen,  by  primary 
assemblages  of  the  people,  by  conventions  of  great  political 
parties,  whose  enunciations  received  again  and  again  the 
endorsement  of  a  majority  of  the  American  people  at  the 
polls  ;  when  the  constitution  itself  was  silent  as  to  express 


LIFE    OF    VANCE.  435 

words,  and  when  no  court  of  law  had  ever  found  by  impli- 
cation or  legal  deduction  that  this  act  was  a  crime  !  The 
idea  of  holding  the  citizen  up  to  all  the  legal  penalties  and 
responsibilities  of  treason  under  such  circumstances  is 
revolting  to  our  sense  of  human  justice.  Now  if  you 
would  not  or  could  not  thus  inflict  upon  him  the  severe 
penalties  of  law,  is  it  just,  is  it  fair,  is  it  Christian  charity 
to  assume  his  guilt  and  visit  upon  him  socially  and  politi- 
cally all  the  odium  of  one  actually  condemned,  so  far  as 
daily,  hourly  iteration  can  do  it  ?  May  we  not  fairly  retort 
upon  you  that,  if  secession  be  indeed  a  crime,  you  taught 
it  to  us  ?  Sir  Edward  Coke  says  of  copy-hold  tenures,  that 
though  of  base  descent,  they  are  of  a  most  ancient  house  ; 
we  can  say  here  that  though  secession  be  an  infamous  doc- 
trine, yet  it  had  a  most  illustrious  origin,  Virginia  and 
Massachusetts.      [Loud  applause.] 

Oh,  wise  and  patriotic  enemy  of  secession,  who  fought 
that  monster  by  a  "substitute,"  and  who  enriched  yourself 
by  speculation  on  the  distresses  and  confusions  of  war, 
spare  us!      [Laughter.] 

Oh,  brave,  true  soldiers  of  the  Union,  and  all  you  people 
who  had  honest  convictions  of  the  unwisdom  of  our  acts, 
ye  who  fought  and  sacrificed  for  love  of  country  and  its 
fair  autonomy,  spare  us,  who  were  equally  brave,  equally 
honest,  but  not  equally  fortunate! 

Again,  my  friends,  we  of  the  South  have  most  serious 
cause  to  complain  of  you  in  reference  to  your  efforts  to 
forestall  history  in  regard  to  the  causes  which  led  to 
secession  and  war.  It  is  written:  "Thou  shalt  not  bear 
false  witness  against  thy  neighbor."  You  say  that  it  was 
slavery,  and  slavery  alone,  that  caused  the  war.  In  your 
literature  it  is  spoken  of  as  the  "slave-holders'  rebellion." 
A  false  shot  out  of  both  barrels !  Slavery  was  the  occasion^ 
not  the  cause  of  the  war.  You  put  us  in  the  position  not 
only  of  traitors  and  rebels,  but  of  becoming  such  for  the 
privilege  of  holding  human  beings    in    bondage,  thereby 


436  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

heaping  upon  us  all  the  reproach  and  opprobrium  that 
such  a  thing  renders  possible.  This  is  at  once  a  misrepre- 
sentation and  an  injustice.  The  great  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  South  entertained  in  the  abstract  as  much 
repugnance  to  slave-holding  as  you  did. 

Their  fault  in  respect  to  slavery,  as  with  secession,  was 
not  all  to  be  charged  upon  them.  As  usual,  Massachusetts 
comes  in  for  the  lion's  share.  Boston  and  Providence 
slavers  vexed  the  seas  in  their  ungodly  search  for  kid- 
napped Africans  to  be  bought  in  exchange  for  New  Eng- 
land rum  and  sold  to  the  Southern  plantations,  against 
which  Old  Virginia  and  other  Southern  States  protested. 

Nay,  by  reference  to  the  history  of  the  constitution  it 
will  be  seen  that  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island  and  Connecticut  united  with  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  in  postponing  the  suppression  of  the 
slave  trade  for  twenty  years,  in  the  formation  of  that  instru- 
ment ;  the  Southern  States  because  they  wanted  the  slaves, 
the  Northern  States  because  they  had  large  shipping  inter- 
ests engaged  in  the  profit  of  buying  and  carrying  them  to 
market.  "The  horrors  of  the  middle  passage"  belonged  to 
you  ;  we  only  bought  your  wares.  The  desire  to  protect 
her  infant  industries  was  thus  manifested  even  at  the  early 
day  against  her  ancient  rival,  England,  whose  "pauper 
labor"  was  engaged  in  the  same  trade. 

So,  too,  a  fierce  arraignment  of  King  George  III,  for  forc- 
ing the  slave  trade  upon  the  colonies  w^as  inserted  by  Mr. 
Jefferson  in  the  original  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. It  was  striken  out  at  the  instigation  of  the 
Eastern  States  as  well  as  Southern,  because  it  was  felt  to 
be  a  reflection  on  citizens  of  Massachusetts  and  of  Rhode 
Island  engaged  in  the  slave  trade.  Slavery  and  the  slave 
trade  were  in  full  and  cruel  operation  in  Massachusetts  be- 
fore there  was  a  white  man's  home  in  North  Carolina,  a 
slave  trade  which  not  only  imported  Africans,  but  exported 
Africans,  Indians,  and,  worst  of  all,  our  own  race — the  peo- 


LIFE   OF  VANCF.  437 

pie  of  our  own  blood !  How  slavery  grew  and  ramified 
through  all  the  South,  under  the  natural  stimulus  of  clim- 
ate and  productions,  and  how  the  abstract  sentiment  against 
it  was  extinguished  by  the  political  necessities  of  the  times, 
arising  from  the  fierce  attacks  made  upon  it  by  the  States 
to  whose  climate  and  pursuits  it  was  unsuited,  and  who 
therefore  sold  out,  quit  business  and  turned  philanthropist! 
All  this  is  an  old,  old  story;  and  I  only  allude  to  it  to  re- 
mind you  that  you  are  not  at  liberty  to  cast  the  first  stone. 
[Applause.] 

The  ownership  of  slaves  and  the  regulation  of  the  sys- 
tem were  left  to  the  exclusive  control  of  the  States,  not 
only  by  the  Tenth  x-lmendment  which  reserved  to  them  all 
rights  and  powers  not  expressly  granted  to  the  Federal 
government,  but  its  existence  was  specially  recognized  and 
its  safety  specially  provided  for  in  the  constitution  itself. 
It  being  a  matter,  therefore,  of  purely  domestic  concern, 
wholly  within  the  control  of  the  States,  the  attempt  to  in- 
terfere with  it  by  the  Federal  government  in  any  shape, 
directly  or  indirectly,  was  justly  regarded  as  a  violation  of 
constitutional  right,  and  injurious  to  that  perfect  equality 
of  the  States  guaranteed  by  the  constitution.  That  is  why 
we  went  to  war.  Slavery  happened  to  be  the  particular 
item  or  instance  wherein  this  equality  was  assailed ;  and  in 
resistance  to  this  attempt  of  the  Federal  government  to  in- 
terfere within  a  State  in  a  matter  which  peculiarly  per- 
tained to  that  State  we  resorted  to  secession  as  a  peaceable 
remedy.  The  thing  which  made  our  forefathers  hesitate 
to  adopt  the  constitution  at  all,  had  here  come  upon  us, 
and  the  remedy  which  our  forefathers — and  yours — had 
suggested  as  the  only  one  proper  or  possible,  was  naturally 
resorted  to. 

Had  it  been  conceded  by  submission  that  the  Federal 
government  could  interfere  in  the  matter  of  slavery,  we 
would  have  been  logically  precluded  from  resistance  to  like 
interference  for  any  other  cause  whatever,  and    there  was 


438  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

an  end  to  the  rights  and  equality  of  the  States  under  the 
constitution  forever,  and  therefore  an  end  to  the  freedom, 
sovereignty  and  independence  of  each  State  which,  accord- 
ing to  all  writers  and  statesmen.  North  and  South,  was 
retained  by  them  when  they  acceded  to  the  constitution. 

It  was  a  constitutional  principle  for  which  we  fought, 
not  merely  the  right  to  hold  slaves.  vSo  far  as  I  have  the 
right  to  speak  for  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  I  believe 
that  with  them  this  war  was  one  for  principle  as  purely 
and  simply  as  was  the  war  of  1776;  as  sacred  a  principle 
as  that  which  made  Boston  men  disguise  themselves  and 
throw  the  tea  overboard  (by  the  way,  the  first  kukluxing 
ever  known  in  America),  and  made  the  North  Carolina 
militia  of  the  Cape  Fear  openly  and  without  disguise  seize 
the  British  Stamp-Master,  destroy  his  stamps  and  force 
him  to  take  an  oath  not  to  execute  the  stamp  act  in  that 
colony. 

It  will  not  do  to  say  that  the  Federal  government  was 
not  interfering  with  or  threatening  slaver\'  at  the  time  of 
secession. 

The  Northern  States  were  openly  violating  the  provis- 
ions of  the  constitution  relative  to  the  return  of  fugitive 
slaves.  A  President  had  just  been  elected  on  the  principle 
of  avowed  hostility  to  slavery,  by  a  strict  sectional  vote. 
No  one  doubts  now  or  could  doubt  then  that  a  war  upon 
the  reserved  rights  of  the  States,  waged  in  the  name  of 
slavery,  was  the  animating  motive  of  the  great  party 
which  had  just  come  into  power.  No  pretext  could  dis- 
guise it.  So  late  as  June,  1862,  a  Congress  composed 
entirely  of  representatives  of  the  adhering  States,  solemnly 
declared  that  the  Federal  government  had  no  power  to 
abolish  slavery  and  that  the  war  was  waged  exclusively  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union.  In  six  months  thereafter 
slavery  was  abolished  all  the  same.  The  real  point  of  at- 
tack was  then  disclosed.  Do  not  misunderstand  mc,  I  am 
not  ashamed  of  the  term  "rebel"  in  the  connection  with  the 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  439 

part  I  bore  in  those  events  ;  neither  are  my  people.  I  am 
simply  pleading  for  historic,  legal  trnth.  The  fair  (ioddess 
of  Liberty  was  born  of  rebellion,  and  was  baptized  in  the 
blood  of  rebels.  It  is  the  only  remedy  for  wrong  under 
absolute  government;  in  all  ages  it  has  been  the  last  hope 
of  freedom.  I  have  said  this  much  in  the  earnest  desire 
that  it  might  call  your  attention  to  an  injustice,  which  you 
are  daily  perpetrating,  not  for  the  purpose  of  reviving  an 
issue  which  has  been  settled.  Now  that  it  has  been  settled 
in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  you,  you  can  afford  to  do  jus- 
tice to  the  motives  and  conduct  of  your  opponents — you 
can  afford  to  accept  the  late  war  as  an  appeal  to  arms  to 
decide  a  disputed  question  of  constitutional  construction—- 
.one  of  the  few  vital  questions  which  the  wisdom  of  the 
fathers  did  not  make  sufficiently  clear.  That  will  be  the 
verdict  of  history  when  your  passions  and  mine  shall  have 
been  forever  extinguished  in  death.  Need  you  say  any- 
thing more?  Does  your  reputation  or  vindication  require 
that  you  should  asperse  your  adversaries?  I  trow  not. 
The  preservation  of  the  Union  with  all  which  that  means, 
the  settlement  of  a  great  constitutional  question,  which 
threatened  its  safety,  is  your  all-sufficient  justification  and 
your  rightful  glory.  [Applause.]  You  add  not  a  spark 
to  that  splendid  radiance,  which  gathered  around  the 
defenders  of  the  Union,  by  casting  abuse  upon  those  whom 
you  overcame.  Here  let  me  remark  that  a  new  duty  is 
imposed  upon  you  by  the  very  fact  of  your  great  achieve- 
ment ;  now  that  your  swords  have  definitely  settled  the 
question  that  the  Union  is  indissoluble;  that  no  State  for 
whatever  cause  has  any  right  to  withdraw  therefrom ;  that 
secession  is  not  a  constitutional  remedy  for  grievances,  it 
devolves  upon  you  as  just  men  to  see  that  by  a  strict  ad- 
herence to  the  conditions  of  the  Union  no  State  shall  have 
reasonable  cause  to  complain,      [Applause.] 

The  people  of  North  Carolina,  more,  perhaps,  than  those 
of  any  of  the  eleven  seceding  States,   were  devoted  to  the 


440  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Union.  They  had  always  regarded  it  with  sincerest  rever- 
ence and  affection,  and  they  left  it  slowly  and  with  sorrow. 
They  were  actuated  by  an  honest  conviction — 

ist.  That  their  constitutional  rights  were  endanger-ed, 
not  by  the  mere  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  others  did,  but 
by  the  course  which  subsequent  events  were  compelled  to 
take  in  consequence  of  the  ideas  which  were   behind   him. 

2d.   By  the  force  of  neighborhood  and  association. 

3d.  By  a  fatality  of  events  which  ordinary  prudence 
could  not  have  avoided.  The  Union  men  of  that  State,  of 
whom  I  was  one,  whatever  may  have  been  their  doubts  of 
the  propriety  of  secession,  were  unanimous  in  the  opinion 
that  it  was  neither  right  nor  safe  to  permit  the  general 
government  to  coerce  a  State.  In  their  arguments  there- 
fore with  the  secession  advocates  they  logically  took  the 
position  that  should  coercion  be  attempted  they  would  unite 
with  the  secessionists  in  resisting  it.  During  the  last  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  which  preceded  the  outbreak,  the  winter 
of  i860  and  '61,  the  Union  members  of  Congress  from  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  after  earnest 
and  anxious  consultation,  constituted  a  committee  to  wait 
upon  IMr.  Lincoln,  who  was  then  in  the  city  preparatory  to 
his  inauguration,  and  present  him  their  views  in  regard  to 
the  situation.  They  did  so,  and  my  colleague,  the  Hon. 
John  A.  Gilmer,  gave  me  the  results  of  their  interview.  It 
was  represented  to  Mr.  Lincoln  by  them  that  the  cotton 
States  proper  alone  could  not  make  any  effectual  headway 
in  maintaining  secession  without  the  aid  of  the  great  border 
States  of  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Virginia,  Maryland,  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee ;  that  the  population  of  those  States 
was  devoted  to  the  Union,  but  could  not  be  held  to  that 
position  should  coercion  be  attempted  and  the  blood  of 
their  Southern  brethren  be  shed.  They  expressed  to  him 
the  opinion  that  the  secession  movement  could  be  checked 
and  finally  broken  down  if  those  great  States  could  be  kept 
out  of  it.     Mr.  Lincoln  appeared   fully  impressed  with  the 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  441 

wisdom  of  these  views  and  promised  that  if  possible  he 
would  avoid  the  attempt  at  coercion.  In  his  inaugural  ad- 
dress he  committed  himself  only  to  the  announcement  that 
his  duty  would  compel  him  to  hold  and  possess  the  public 
propert}-  of  the  United  States.  I  quote  from  memory.  With 
this  promise  and  these  hopes  the  Union  Congressmen  from 
these  States  returned  to  their  homes  and  began  their  can- 
vassings  for  re-election.  They  promised  the  people  that  no 
force  would  be  attempted,  and  if  there  should  be,  they  could 
and  would  no  longer  hold  out  for  the  Union.  As  pi^ari- 
ous  as  this  position  was,  such  was  the  temper  of  the  Southern 
people,  it  was  all  that  the  situation  afforded  even  in  States 
so  conservative. 

>  But  when  Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon,  immediately 
followed  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  call  for  "volunteers  to  suppress 
the  insurrection,"  the  whole  situation  was  changed  in- 
stantly. The  Union  men  had  every  prop  knocked  from 
under  them,  and  by  stress  of  their  own  position  were 
plunged  into  the  secession  movement.  For  myself,  I  will 
say  that  I  was  canvassing  for  the  Union  with  all  my 
strength  ;  I  was  addressing  a  large  and  excited  crowd,  large 
numbers  of  whom  were  armed,  and  literally  had  my  arm 
extended  upward  in  pleading  for  peace  and  the  Union  of 
our  Fathers,  when  the  telegraphic  news  was  announced  of 
the  firing  on  Sumter  and  President's  call  for  seventy-five 
thousand  volunteers.  When  my  hand  came  down  from 
that  impassioned  gesticulation,  it  fell  slowly  and  sadly  by 
the  side  of  a  Secessionist.  I  immediately,  with  altered 
voice  and  manner,  .called  upon  the  assembled  multitude  to 
volunteer,  not  to  fight  against  but  for  South  Carolina.  I 
said :  If  war  must  come  I  preferred  to  be  with  my  own 
people.  If  we  had  to  shed  blood  I  preferred  to  shed 
Northern  rather  than  Southern  blood.  If  we  had  to  slay 
I  had  rather  slay  strangers  than  my  owm  kindred  and 
neighbors;  and  that  it  was  better,  whether  right  or  wrong, 
that  communities  and  States  should  go  together  and   face 


442  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

the  horrors  of  war  in  a  body — sharing  a  common  fate, 
rather  than  endnre  the  unspeakable  calamities  of  inter- 
necine strife.  To  those  at  all  acquainted  with  the  atrocities 
which  were  inflicted  upon  the  divided  communities  of  IMis- 
souri,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  the  humanity  of  my  action 
will  be  apparent.  I  went  with  and  shared  the  fate  of  the 
people  of  my  native  State,  having  first  done  all  I  could  to 
preserve  the  peace  and  secure  the  unanimity  of  the  people 
to  avert,  as  much  as  possible,  the  calamities  of  war.  I  do 
not  regret  that  course.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  an  honor- 
able man  within  my  hearing  to-night  who,  under  the  same 
circumstances,  would  not  have  done  as  I  did.  [Much 
applause.] 

My  own  feeling  and  conduct  is  given  as  a  specimen  of 
that  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina  at  large.  I  charge  no 
bad  faith  on  Mr.  Lincoln  for  this  entrapment;  doubtless 
his  intentions  were  as  sincere  as  those  of  Union  men  with 
whom  he  conferred.  Events  were  happening  so  rapidly 
and  so  irresistibly  that  he  could  see  no  further  ahead  than 
others.  His  course  from  day  to  day  was  shaped  by  his  sur- 
roundings— so  was  ours  ! 

The  argument  having  ceased  and  the  sword  being  drawn, 
all  classes  in  the  South  united  as  by  magic,  as  only  a  com- 
mon danger  could  unite  them.  No  people  were  more 
zealous  and  unanimous  than  became  the  Unionists  of  my 
State  in  support  of  the  war :  because  they  had  been  honest 
in  their  belief  that  coercion  was  wrong,  and  because  they 
felt  conscious  of  having  done  all  that  was  honorable  to  avert 
hostilities.  The  co-relative  duty  now  was  to  do  all  that 
was  manly  to  fight  it  out.  Well  and  truly  she  performed 
that  duty,  as  the  result  on  many  a  stricken  field  will  show. 
First  and  last  she  sent  to  the  armies  of  the  Confederacy,  not 
relatively  but  absolutely,  more  soldiers  than  any  other 
State  in  the  South ;  furnished  more  supplies,  equipped  her 
troops  better.  On  many  of  the  hardest  fought  fields  of 
Northern  Virginia  she  left   more   dead   and  wounded  upon 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  443 

the  blood-soaked  earth  than  all  the  other  Southern  States 
combined.  At  Appomattox  she  laid  down  at  the  feet  of 
General  Grant  double  the  number  of  muskets  of  any  other 
State  in  the  Confederacx'.  She  did  the  same  at  Greensboro. 
There  was  not  a  sacrifice  which  she  was  called  upon  to  make 
for  the  good  of  the  Southern  cause  that  she  did  not  make, 
and  make  cheerfully. 

This,  from  old-fashioned,  steady,  sober,  modest  North 
Carolina,  in  a  quarrel  not  of  her  making  ;  in  a  war  not  of 
her  choosing.  I  mention  these  things  not  with  the  expec- 
tation of  exciting  your  applause  in  behalf  of  people  whose 
opinions  are  so  widely  different  from  yours,  who  fought 
against  your  armies  and  sought  to  withdraw*  from  political 
association  with  you,  but  with  the  earnest  hope  of  enlisting 
your  sympathy  for  that  kind  of  statesmanship  which  seeks 
to  utilize  such  noble  citizenship  for  the  purposes  of  the  Re- 
public, and  because  I  believe  that  a  true  soldier  can  honoi 
courage  and  faithfulness  to  duty  wherever  he  sees  it  dis- 
played by  any  portion  of  the  great  American  people.  All 
genius,  all  steadfastness,  all  public  and  private  virtue  is  the 
common  property  of  our  country. 

Instead  of  fostering  bitterness  and  devoting  politics  to 
those  small  prejudices  which  are  calculated  to  carry  a  ward 
or  a  township  primary,  I  beg  your  recognition,  of  that  wiser 
and  nobler  policy  which  seeks  to  make  every  spark  of 
genius,  every  arm  of  strength,  ever)-  heart  of  integrity,  and 
every  soul  of  fire  in  America  contributory  to  the  strength- 
ening and  up-building  of  freedom,  and  the  glory  of  the  great 
Republic.      [Great  applause.] 

But  I  did  not  come  before  you  to-night  to  discourse  upon 
the  military  aspects  and  operations  of  that  struggle  (though 
it  is  a  tempting  theme),  but  rather  to  speak  of  its  political 
civil  condition.  Within  two  weeks  after  the  opening  of 
hostilities  at  Sumter,  a  convention  of  the  people  of  North 
Carolina  which,  in  the  February  preceding  had  been  voted 
down  by  a  large  majorit)',  as  looking  towards  disunion,  was 


444  L^^^    O^   VANCE. 

called  together  in  Raleigh  to  consider  and  provide  for  the 
situation.  In  it  were  the  ablest  men  in  our  State,  perhaps 
the  ablest  which  ever  assembled  in  our  State  in  a  body. 
They  were  composed  of  Whigs,  Democrats,  Unionists,  and 
Secessionists:  there  were  Governor  Morehead,  Governor 
Graham,  George  E.  Badger,  Thos.  Ruffin,  John  A.  Gilmer, 
Burton  Craig,  James  W.  Osborne,  N.  W.  Wordfin,  and 
others  of  similar  high  character  and  ability.  The  last  sem- 
blance of  old  party  distinctions  was  exhibited  in  that 
convention  in  the  contest  as  to  the  method  of  retiring  from 
the  Union  and  joining  the  new  Confederacy.  The  Union- 
ists proposed  a  resolution  of  withdrawal,  containing  a 
declaration  ///  cxtoiso  of  the  causes  of  separation  ;  the 
Secessionists  opposed  it  by  an  ordinance  simply  repealing 
the  ordinance  of  1789,  by  which  North  Carolina  had  en- 
tered the  Union.  The  latter  prevailed,  and  thenceforth  all 
distinctions  measurably  disappeared.  hX  first  the  popular 
feeling  was  one  of  great  confidence  and  hope.  The  country 
was  prosperous  and  full  of  material  resources.  The  novelty 
of  war  with  all  its  pomp  and  circumstance  filled  the 
land  with  unusual  and  lofty  feeling.  Say  what  you  will 
about  slavery,  it  had  filled  our  country  with  a  class  of  young 
men  admirably  fitted  for  war ;  men  with  habits  formed  to 
command;  with  a  consciousness  of  superiority,  and  with  a 
sense  of  chivalry  which  taught  them  to  believe  that  per- 
sonal courage  was  one  of  the  highest  of  human  virtues. 
Your  people  thought,  and  frequently  said,  that  they  had 
become  effeminated  by  slavery  and  luxurious  habits,  and 
could  not  endure  the  hardships  of  war.  You  did  not  find 
it  so.  On  the  other  hand  we  thought  you  were  enfeebled 
in  like  manner  by  your  in-door  lives  of  shop  and  factory ; 
we,  too,  found  it  somewhat  different.  Indeed  both  sides 
undervalued  their  adversaries,  a  not  uncommon  fault  in 
people  about  to  go  to  war.  The  buoyant  and  hopeful  feel- 
ing which  animated  our  people  at  the  beginning  of  the 
struggle  was  sustained  by  the  belief  that  on  principle  they 


LIFE    OF    VANCE.  445 

were  in  the  right ;  and  especially  that  they  were  on  the 
defensive  and  had  their  homes  and  firesides  to  defend 
against  desolation.  They  fnrthermore  believed — and  they 
certainly  were  entitled  to  that  opinion  for  they  paid  a  high 
price  for  it — that  as  a  commercial  and  mannfacturing  people 
mnch  given  to  the  making  of  money,  you  would  not  long 
continue  a  contest  in  which  there  was  apparently  no  money 
to  be  made.  Alas,  we  reckoned  without  our  host  in  this 
respect.  We  did  not  know  how  Yankee  ingenuity  was 
equal  to  the  task  of  making  money  where  it  was  spent; 
how  it  could  accumulate  wealth  out  of  the  very  process  of 
exhaustion.  [Laughter.]  But  we  did  not  believe,  as  has 
been  often  charged,  that  we  could  starve  you  into  peace,  by 
withholding  our  cotton.  There  were  some  who  professed 
to  believe  this,  but  the  lunatic  asylums  of  the  State  (and 
there  were  not  many),  could  have  furnished  accommodation 
for  them  all. 

Many  of  our  people,  too,  among  those  who  had  been 
most  d.  voted  Unionists,  soon  came  to  look  at  things  in  a 
philosophic  spirit,  in  their  desire  to  reconcile  themselves 
to  the  situation.  They  recalled  the  old  historic  idea  that 
liberty  was  best  preserved  in  countries  of  small  extent, 
whose  governments  came  most  immediately  under  the  ob- 
servation of  the  governed,  and  whose  officials  were  most 
directly  responsible  to  their  constituents,  and  that  in  coun- 
tries of  great  territorial  extent,  filled  with  vast  populations, 
of  diverse  interests  and  pursuits,  there  would  naturally  be 
a  demand  for  a  strong  government,  and  a  government  was 
made  strong  necessarily  by  conferring  upon  it  powers 
wrested  from  the  people — a  process  most  undoubtedly  dan- 
gerous to  liberty.  They  considered  also  that  the  centralizing 
tendencies  of  the  times,  which  they  had  always  been  taught 
to  dread,  might  best  be  checked  by  a  division  of  this  great 
land  into  two  or  more  nationalities,  wherein  individual 
rights  might  still  be  made  to  constitute  the  primal  objects 
of  the  smaller  governments,  rather  than  the  national  glory 


446  LIFK   OF   VANCK. 

which  threatened  to  aggrandize  the  movement  of  the  one 
great  united  government.  Whatever  may  be  your  opinion 
of  these  views,  I  only  wish  here  to  assure  you  that  they 
were  widely  entertained,  and  that  they  served  to  reconcile 
many  to  the  proposed  separation. 

With  such  feelings  and  hopes  the  war  was  begun  ! 
Volunteers  were  first  called  upon  for  six  months,  then  for 
twelve  months,  then  for  "  three  years  or  the  war" — no  man 
supposing  that  it  could  exceed  three  years  in  duration. 

Promises  were  freely  made  that  six  months  must  wind  it 
up.  Looking  back  at  it  all  now,  it  is  easy  for  us  to  assume 
a  superior  wisdom,  and  laugh  at  all  this  folly.  The  first  Con- 
gress of  tlie  Confederacy,  sitting  in  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
provided  for  the  raising  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars  for  the 
support  of  the  war.  They  did  not  want  the  President  em- 
barrassed for  want  of  money.  For  this  they  were  seriously 
rebuked  in  many  quarters  for  pernicious  extravagance,  and 
it  was  alleged  that  we  were  beginning  already  to  fall  into 
the  habit  of  the  United  States  government  in  thus  accumu- 
lating useless  money  in  the  treasury  to  become  a  source  of 
corruption.  It  seems  to  me  however  that  some  of  this 
kind  of  lunacy  was  also  displayed  on  this  side  of  the  line. 
I  think  I  remember  some  promises  of  Mr.  Seward  of  sup- 
pressing the  rebellion  on  ninety  days  after  sight,  exclusive 
of  the  usual  days  of  grace  allowed  on  commercial  paper. 
[Laughter.]  But  whatever  the  mistakes  our  leaders  made  in 
calling  for  troops,  the  troops  came ;  came  so  jjromptly  and 
in  such  numbers  that  neither  their  own  States  nor  the  Con- 
federate government  could  receive  and  properly  provide  for 
them.  Numbers  were  refused,  and  it  was  often  considered 
a  special  favor  for  a  regiment  or  a  battalion  to  be  accepted 
and  sent  to  the  front. 

iVt  this  time  and  for  twelve  or  fifteen  months  afterwards 
the  civil  authorities  of  the  new  Confederate  government 
were  very  popular  and  were  most  cordially  supported  by  all 
classes.     In  the  winter  of  1 861-2  a   chang-e   began  to  take 


LIKE   OF   VANCE.  447 

place.  The  time  of  the  six  months'  vohinteers  had  ex- 
pired, and  that  of  the  twelve  months'  men  was  approaching 
expiration,  and  it  was  seen  that  if  they  were  all  at  once 
mustered  out  the  Confederacy  would  be  left  without  a  suf- 
ficient army,  at  the  very  opening  of  a  campaign.  Efforts 
were  at  first  made  to  induce  the  troops  in  the  field  to 
re-enlist,  but  for  various  causes  these  efforts  were  only  par- 
tially successful.  By  this  time  much  of  the  novelty  of  the 
thing  had  worn  off ;  the  volunteers  had  seen  service  enough 
to  gratify  their  curiosity,  and  the  people  had  experienced 
what  it  was  to  be  in  a  state  of  actual  war.  Both  soldiers 
and  people  had  also  tasted  somewhat  of  its  unpleasant  ele- 
ments. The  enthusiasm  which  had  been  excited  by  the 
victories  of  Big  Bethel,  Manassas  and  other  engagements 
of  the  first  year's  campaign,  had  sensibly  diminished.  And 
on  the  whole,  people  w^ere  no  longer  disposed  to  go  far  out 
of  the  way  for  the  sake  of  being  shot  at.  Seeing,  therefore, 
whilst  yet  these  efforts  at  re-enlistments  were  going  on, 
that  the  result  was  at  least  doubtful,  the  Confederate  Con- 
gress suddenly  ended  the  matter  by  the  enactment  of  a 
sweeping  conscript  law,  placing  every  able-bodied  man,  be- 
tween the  ages  of  eighteen  and  thirty-five,  with  certain 
exceptions,  in  the  service.  Here  the  first  open  and  undis- 
guised complaints  were  heard,  and  the  murmurings  grew 
louder  when  the  nature  of  the  exceptions  was  ascertained. 
One  of  the  exceptions  from  the  operations  of  the  law  was 
in  favor  of  the  owner  or  manager  of  twenty  negroes.  Al- 
together it  produced  a  decided  effect  on  public  sentiment. 
It  was  perhaps  the  severest  blow  the  Confederacy  ever 
received,  as  it  did  more  than  anything  else  to  alienate  the 
affections  of  the  common  people,  without  whose  support  it 
could  not  live  for  a  day.  It  was  not  only  regarded  as  a 
confession  that  the  new  government  was  not  able  to  depend 
upon  the  voluntary  support  of  the  people,  with  which  it  so 
triumphantly  started  out — which,  of  course,  happened  also 
to  you,  and  must  happen  to  any  government  in  a  long  con- 


448  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

tinned  struggle — but  it  opened  a  wide  door  to  demagogues 
to  appeal  to  the  non-slaveholding  class,  and  make  them 
believe  that  the  only  issue  was  the  protection  of  slavery,  in 
which  they  were  to  be  sacrificed  for  the  sole  benefit  of  the 
masters.  The  cry  was  rung  through  the  country  that  it 
was  a  "rich  man's  war  and  a  poor  man's  fight."  This  was 
undoubtedly  the  weakest  point  in  our  position,  and  you  can 
well  imagine  the  state  of  political  feeling  such  an  appeal 
was  calculated  to  bring  about,  and  the  great  difficulty 
the  supporters  of  the  war  had  in  meeting  it.  That  this  law 
was  a  great  calamity  to  the  Southern  cause  I  regard  as  in- 
disputable, but  that  it  was  a  mistake  I  am  not  prepared  to 
assert  when  I  consider  the  counter  calamity  which  it  was 
intended  to  avert.  The  wise  man  of  scripture  has  said  that 
the  "destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty."  We  were 
so  hard  pressed  that  necessity  selected  our  means  for  us. 
Undoubtedly  but  for  it  the  Southern  armies  would  have 
been  virtually  disbanded  at  the  very  opening  of  the  great 
campaign  of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-two,  and  McClel- 
lan  would  have  marched  triumphantly  into  Richmond. 
The  troops  which  had  enlisted  for  the  war,  added  to  those 
which  had  re-enlisted  and  those  whose  time  had  not  yet 
expired,  could  not  have  stopped  him.  This  would  proba- 
bly have  been  decisive  of  the  v/ar,  for  in  this  age  of  rail- 
roads and  telegraph  lines  such  a  contest  could  not  have 
been  maintained  by  the  spasmodic  efforts  of  a  volunteer 
force,  as  was  our  War  of  Independence  one  hundred  years 
ago.  It  is  necessary  also,  in  relation  to  the  exemption  of 
the  managers  of  negroes  from  conscription  to  give  a  word 
of  explanation  concerning  that  enactment.  It  may  not 
have  occurred  to  the  people  of  the  North  that  our  slaves 
were  not  an  element  of  weakness  to  us,  as  it  was  asserted 
confidently,  that  they  would  be.  On  the  contrary,  they 
proved  a  source  of  positive  strength,  in  that  by  tilling  the 
soil,  conducting  our  domestic  industries,  and  producing  our 
supplies,  they  enabled  the  entire  capable  white  population 


UFE   OF   VANCE.  449 

to  take  up  arms.  By  this  means  we  far  exceeded  the  ratio 
which  ill  all  wars  should  exist  between  those  wlao  fight  in 
the  field  and  those  who  labor  at  home.  For  example,  one 
soul  out  of  every  six  in  North  Carolina  served  in  the  army. 
The  exemption  of  managers  and  owners  of  negroes  from 
conscription  may  therefore  be  called  an  unwise  attempt  to 
do  a  most  wise  thing,  to-wit :  to  utilize  to  the  utmost  the 
capacity  of  a  black  population  of  four  millions  to  contribute 
to  the  support  of  the  war.  Whether  this  could  have  been 
done  in  some  less  objectionable  but  equally  effective  way 
it  would  be  an  assum2:)tion  of  wisdom  after  the  fact  for  me 
now  to  say. 

Here  permit  me  to  call  your  attention  to  the  conduct  of 
the  Southern  slaves  during  the  war.  You  had  been 
taught,  by  press,  pulpit  and  hustings,  to  believe  that  they 
were  an  oppressed,  abused  and  diabolically  treated  race; 
that  their  groanings  daily  and  hourly  appealed  to  heaven, 
wdiilst  their  shackles  and  their  scars  testified  in  the  face  of 
all  humanity  against  their  treatment.  No  doubt  many  of 
you  believed  the  harrowing  story,  for  there  was  much  like 
it,  only  worse,  in  your  own  early  history. 

How  was  this  grave  impeachment  of  a  whole  people  sus- 
tained, when  you  went  among  them  to  emancipate  them 
from  the  horrors  of  their  serfdom?  When  the  war  began, 
naturally  you  expected  insurrections,  incendiary  burnings, 
murder  and  outrage,  with  all  the  terrible  conditions  of 
servile  war.  There  were  not  wanting  fanatical  wretches 
who  did  their  utmost  to  excite  it.  Did  you  find  it  so  ? 
Here  is  what  you  found.  Within  hearing  of  the  guns  that 
were  roaring  to  set  them  free,  with  the  land  stripped  of  its 
male  population,  and  none  around  them  except  the  aged, 
the  w^omen  and  the  children,  they  not  only  failed  to  em- 
brace their  opportunity  of  vengeance,  but  for  the  most  part 
they  failed  to  avail  themselves  of  the  chance  of  freedom 
itself.  They  remained  quietly  on  our  plantations,  culti- 
vated our  fields  and  cared  for  our  mothers,  wives  and  little 

30 


450  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

ones  with  a  faithful  love  and  a  loyal  kindness  which,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  could  only  be  born  of  sincere  good  will. 
Very  few,  indeed,  comparatively,  followed  ^-our  armies  as 
the}^  swept  by  the  old  homesteads,  and  a  still  smaller  num- 
ber fled  from  their  homes  to  get  under  its  protection.  No 
murder,  no  outrage,  no  burnings  characterized  their  course. 
Not  a  hand  was  raised  in  vengeance  by  the  Southern  slave 
when  the  supreme  opportunity  came  to  him.  Even  those 
who  left  the  plantations  did  so  mostly  by  stealth,  as  though 
ashamed  of  deserting  their  master's  families  even  for  the 
commendable  purpose  of  joining  themselves  to  freedom. 
This  was  the  general  rule.  From  the  day  of  their  eman- 
cipation to  the  present  moment,  except  where  instigated  by 
the  evil  counsels  of  bad  white  men,  their  demeanor  towards 
their  late  masters  has  been  characterized  mostly  by  kind- 
ness and  considerate  respect.  I  know  of  no  instance  in  the 
world's  history  when  a  people  similarly  situated  have  be- 
haved better  on  the  whole.  These  facts  are  significant. 
That  they  are  complimentary  in  the  highest  degree  to  the 
black  race  no  one  doubts  ;  do  they  not  also  say  enough  for 
for  the  Southern  whites,  in  regard  to  their  rule  as  mas- 
ters, to  justify  you  in  thinking  better  of  them  than 
perhaps  you  have  been  accustomed  to  do?  According  to 
well  known  moral  laws  this  kindly  loyalty  of  the  one  race 
could  not  have  been  begotten  by  the  cruelty  and  oppres- 
sion of  the  other.  [Applause.]  It  will  do  you  no  harm 
to  reflect  upon  this. 

Whilst  the  Confederate  armies  were  holding  their  own 
in  the  field  and  the  civil  authorities  were  administering  its 
affairs  in  the  ordinary  grooves,  there  was  but  little  excite- 
ment or  political  feeling  in  the  public  mind.  It  had 
been  supposed  that  the  war  could  be  fought  through  with- 
out any  disturbances  of  the  ordinary  functions  of  civil  gov- 
ernment, or  any  strain  upon  the  muniments  of  their  civil 
rights.  But  so  soon  as  the  fortunes  of  the  Confederacy  be- 
gan to  ebb,    so  soon  as  the  superior  numbers  and  resources 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  45 1 

of  the  North  beo;-an  to  be  seriously  felt,  the  managers  of  the 
South  came  to  feel  the  necessity  of  resorting  to  extraordin- 
ary means,  and  thisfeelingof  serenity  was  rudely  disturbed. 
Political  discontent  and  distrust  began  to  prevail.  Perhaps 
in  this  respect  was  made  the  initial  mistake  of  the  whole 
secession  movement ;  a  mistake,  the  fatality  of  which  in- 
creased day  by  day  to  the  end.  We  started  out  without 
revolution  of  any  kind,  with  all  the  machinery  of  society. 
State  and  Federal,  in  complete  operation.  There  was 
simply  a  transfer  of  the  central  authority  from  the  United 
States  to  the  Confederate  States  of  America.  The  same 
bond  of  Union  or  constitution  was  adopted,  save  a  change 
of  a  few  strokes  of  the  pen.  In  thus  avoiding  the  alarms 
of  revolution  and  giving  assurance  to  the  timid  of  the 
security  of  society  at  the  outset,  a  great  point  was  undoubt- 
edly gained.  Rut  this  was  dearly  paid  for.  These  smoothly 
flowing  conditions  could  not  of  course  be  maintained.  No 
consideration  was  given  to  the  dangers  of  that  coming 
period  when  hard  necessity  should  compel  the  setting  aside 
of  civil  rights  and  peaceful  forms,  and  the  substitution  of 
the  harsh  features  of  revolution — at  a  moment,  too,  when 
the  government  most  needed  the  warm  support  of  public 
opinion.  Looked  at  simply  with  a  view  to  success,  in  my 
opinion  the  seceding  States  should  have  faced  the  most 
ultra  measures  of  revolution  at  the  very  start ;  they  should 
have  formed  no  national  government  and  should  have 
bound  themselves  by  the  shackles  of  no  constitution.  To 
face  the  great  and  terrible  odds  asrainst  them  in  their  strug- 
gle  with  a  people  three  times  their  numbers  and  ten  times 
their  wealth,  with  the  world  for  a  recruiting  ground  of 
armies  and  of  means,  they  should  have  stripped  themselves 
naked  of  every  vestige  of  law,  constitution  or  restraint 
which  in  any  way  hindered  or  encumbered  the  arm  of  war, 
and  should  have  submitted  every  energy,  every  element  of 
strength  to  the  sole  direction  of  a  single  will.  This  would 
indeed  have  been  a  terrible  thing  to  do,  but  no  less  fearful 


452  WFE   OF  VANCE. 

was  the  alternative,  and  we  should  not  have  gone  into  the 
thing  at  all  if  not  willing  to  embrace  every  possible  means 
of  success.  Men  would  have  no  doubt  made  up  their  minds 
to  it,  if  instead  of  glossing  over  the  difficulties  and  deceiv- 
ing with  fallacious  hopes  of  a  short  war  and  easy  success, 
the  real  facts  had  been  boldly  and  honestly  presented  at 
the  initial  moment.  I  tested  this  better  principle  of  our 
nature  in  the  re-enlisting  of  my  own  regiment  when  its  term 
was  about  to  ex^^ire  in  1862.  I  did  this  most  successfully 
by  telling  them  the  simple  truth,  that  there  was  a  long  and 
terrible  war  before  them ;  hardship  and  suffering  and  death 
for  the  most  of  them ;  that  no  man  could  foresee  the  end — 
but  that  their  country  needed  them  and  its  cause  would  be 
lost  without  them.  That  was  all,  and  it  was  sufficient.  That 
regiment,  the  twenty-sixth  North  Carolina,  led  by  the  gal- 
lant Colonel  Harry  Burgwyn,  the  son  of  a  noble  Boston 
woman,  left  six  hundred  dead  and  wounded  on  the  heights  of 
Gettysburg,  with  their  heroic  young  commander  among  them. 
A  number  of  these  were  found  within  that  deadly  stone 
wall  which  Lee's  whole  army  had  so  vainly  attempted  to 
scale.      [Applause.] 

But  this  course  was  not  adopted,  and  the  usual  disappoint- 
ment followed.  When  conscription  came,  as  I  have  said, 
complaints  began;  when  conscription  was  extended  com- 
plaints grew  louder;  when  complaints  became  angry,  the 
suspension  of  Jiabcas corpus  was  authorized  and  martial  law — 
that  is  to  say,  no  law — was  allowed  to  be  proclaimed,  if 
need  be.  This,  of  course,  increased  and  deepened  the  dis- 
content, and  from  that  time  forward  there  was  in  several  of 
the  vStates,  notably  North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  an  irritat- 
ing sense  of  wrong,  caused  by  the  attempt  of  the  Confederate 
Executive  to  enforce  the  laws  of  Congress,  and  the  efforts 
of  the  State  to  protect  the  personal  rights  of  their  citizens. 
vSimple  justice  requires  me  to  say  that  there  was  no  dis- 
position on  the  part  of  the  President  of  the  Confederacy  to 
violate  these  rights  per  sc.     Indeed  the  disposition  was  quite 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  453 

the  contrary.  He  never  abused  the  extraordinary  powers 
given  him  by  Congress;  in  fact,  scarcely  resorted  to  them  at 
alb 

So  great  was  his  reverence,  and  that  of  the  Southern 
mind  at  large,  for  all  the  old-time  muniments  of  personal 
liberty,  that  nearly  every  claim  of  the  States  in  behalf  of 
tlieir  citizens  was  conceded — oftentimes  at  what  appeared  to 
be  a  sacrifice  of  the  public  interest.  I  believe  when  you 
view  these  things  dispassionately  and  calmly 'you  will  feel 
bound  to  give  proper  credit  to  both  Confederate  and  State 
authorities  for  their  efforts  during  all  the  confusion  of  those 
unhappy  times  to  preserve  both  the  essence  and  the  forms 
of  personal  liberty  under  the  strongest  temptations  to  dis- 
regard them.  I  feel  that  it  would  not  be  too  much  in  me 
to  say  here  that  we  far  exceeded  your  States,  and  certainly 
your  Federal  government,  in  this  important  respect,  though 
the  strain  upon  you  was  not  nearly  so  hard  as  upon  us. 
From  September,  1862,  to  May,  1865,  I  was  Chief  Magis- 
trate of  the  State  of  North  Carolina;  and  when  eleven  years 
afterwards  I  was  again  inaugurated  Governor  for  the  third 
time,  the  proudest  boast  which  I  could  make  in  regard  to 
my  previous  service  was  that  during  my  administration  the 
old  legal  maxim  inter  arnia  silent  leges  was  expunged,  and 
in  its  place  was  written  inter  arnia  leges  audiebantur.  The 
laws  ivere  heard  amidst  all  the  roar  of  cannon.  No  man 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  was 
denied  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus^  the  right 
of  trial  by  jury,  or  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws,  as  pro- 
vided by  our  constitution  and  the  bill  of  rights. 

It  would,  perhaps,  be  not  uninteresting  to  you  to  know 
something  of  the  curious  experience  through  v/hich  the 
Southern  people  passed  during  that  period  in  the  matter  of 
physical  resources.  You  can  scarcely  imagine  the  feeling 
which  comes  to  a  people  when  isolated  as  we  were,  and  shut 
out  from  communication  with  all  the  world.  A  nation  in 
prison  we  were,  in  the  midst  of  civilized  society,  and  forced 


454  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

to  rely  exclusively  upon  ourselves  for  everything.  When 
the  war  began,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  cotton  and 
woolen  mills  and  the  crude  establishments  common  to  all 
plantations  and  villages,  we  were  utterly  without  manu- 
factures of  any  kind.  So  far  as  I  can  recall  there  was  not  a 
foundry  for  casting  a  cannon,  a  shop  for  making  a  musket, 
nor  a  mill  for  making  a  pound  of  powder,  within  the  limits 
of  the  eleven  seceding  States.  Not  a  grain  scythe,  nor  an 
axe,  nor  a  bar  of  railroad  iron  was  made  in  the  country, 
except  the  few,  possibly,  occasionally  produced  in  the 
smallest  quantities  and  in  the  crudest  st)de  of  temporary 
makeshift.  In  short,  nearly  all  the  staple  articles  of  human 
necessity,  for  both  peace  and  war,  we  were  without  the 
machinery  and  the  establishments  for  making.  But  the 
land  was  full  of  resources,  and  the  raw  material  for  the 
manufacture  of  all  that  we  needed,  x^nd  strange  as  it  may 
appear  to  you,  it  was  full  of  mechanical  capacity  to  deal 
with  this  material.  If  you  could  have  witnessed  the  zeal 
and  the  success  with  which  our  native  genius  took  hold  of 
it,  under  the  extraordinary  stimulus  of  the  times,  you  would 
no  longer  believe  that  New  England  Yankees  possess  a 
monopoly  of  the  American  inventive  faculty.  [Laughter.] 
Cotton  and  woolen  millsquickly  sprang  up  and  the  capacity 
of  existing  ones  was  enlarged.  Foundrys  for  casting  can- 
non, shops  for  making  fire  arms,  swords  and  bayonets,  and 
mills  for  making  powder  were  set  up  in  abundance.  Shoes 
and  blankets  were  made  by  the  hundred  thousand,  and 
transportation  wagons  and  camp  equipages  of  all  kinds  soon 
supplied  the  demand.  A  rigid  blockade  of  our  coast  at  a 
very  early  date  shut  off  our  hopes  of  supplies  from  abroad ; 
and  yet  that  blockade  was  not  so  successfully  maintained, 
but  that  needed  articles  crept  in  in  considerable  quantities, 
though  fitfully.  A  long-legged  steamer  which  I  purchased 
in  the  Clyde  for  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  made  eleven 
round  trips  from  Bermudas  into  the  port  of  Wilmington, 
carrying  out  cotton  and  bringing  back  supplies  of  those 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  455 

things  which  could  not  be  procured  at  home,   especially 
grain  scythes,  card  clothing  for  the  factories,  hand  cards  for 
our  old-fashioned  looms,  and  medicines,  with  large  quanti- 
ties of  shoes,  blankets  and  army  cloths.     She  often  entered 
the  port  in  broad  daylight,  in  the  face  of  the  blockading 
fleet.     The  situation  called  into  active  use  all  the  mechanical 
talent  of  our  people.     The  village  or  cross-road  blacksmith 
refurnished  his  shop  and  made  tools  and  agricultural  imple- 
ments for  his  neighbors;  the  shoemaker,  the  cooper,  the 
wheelwright,  and  the  tanner,  all  sprang  into  sudden  impor^ 
tance.     Even  the  druggist  compounded  from  the  wondrous 
flora  of  the  country  substitutes  for  nearly  all  the  drugs  of 
commerce,  which  if  not  so  efficacious  were  at  least  more 
harmless  than  the  genuine  article.     The  devices  and  expe- 
dients adopted  in  all  the  industries,  the  social  and  domestic 
departments  of  our  daily  life,  were  most  ingenious,  though 
sometimes  ludicrous.     Here  the  subtle  contrivings  of  the 
female  sex  became  most  conspicuous.     The  silks,  merinos, 
alpacas  and  other  dress  goods  of  our  woman-folks,  known  as 
"store  clothes,"  which  were  on  hand  when  the  blockade 
began  were  saved  and  carefully  used  for  weddings  and  other 
occasions  of  high  state.     For  calico  prints  were  substituted 
the   colored   plaids   manufactured  in  our   cotton   mills    or 
woven  in  the  hand-looms  of  the  old  plantation. 

Perhaps  you  have  given  some  consideration  to  the 
importance  which  a  woman  attaches  to  the  bonnet;  and 
unless  your  domestic  education  has  been  neglected  you  are 
doubtless  aware  how  essential  in  all  civilized  lands  the  sat- 
isfactory adjustment  of  the  bonnet  question  is  to  the  peace 
of  mankind.  This  was  now  upon  us  with  all  its  force! 
There  we  were,  with  a  bonnet-wearing  population  of  at  least 
three  millions  in  our  midst,  and  not  a  bonnet  factory  within 
the  Confederate  States,  and  with  a  frowning  cordon  of  ships 
of  war  guarding  every  port  to  keep  out  this  essential  army 
supply  as  contraband  of  war!  The  situation  was  indeed 
most  appalling ;  but  my  fair  country-women  were  equal  to 


456  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

it,  as  they  have  been  to  all  other  emergencies  which  they 
have  been  called  on  to  face.  As  in  the  Wars  of  the  Roses, 
the  women  were  greater  partizans  than  the  men,  and  with 
them  the  memories  of  the  struggle  were  longer  in  dying 
out,  so  it  proved  with  us. 

They  submitted  to  the  privations  and  hardships  of  the 
situation  with  a  cheerful  patience  which  shamed  the  boasted 
courage  of  man.  In  these  inconsiderable  matters  they 
showed  that  beneath  the  thin  veneer  of  personal  vanity 
there  lay  the  great  and  noble  qualities  of  common  sense 
and  patriotism.  They  took  the  bright  straw  of  the  wheat, 
oats  and  rye,  and  the  husk  of  the  corn  ears,  rich  in  the 
beauteous  coloring  of  silver  and  old  gold,  and  with  deft 
fingers  wove  for  themselves  all  manner  of  head-gear,  as 
charming  as  any  which  ever  came  from  the  shops  of  France 
or  Italy,  the  natural  earthly  home  of  artistic  beauty!  As 
to  the  effects  produced,  I  beg  to  assure  the  inexperienced 
in  my  audience  that  in  gazing  upon  Southern  girls  thus 
arrayed  from  top  to  toe  in  home-made  striped  cottons, 
which  we  called  Alamance  plaids,  set  off  by  corn-shuck 
bonnets,  the  work  of  their  own  hands,  I  have  felt  all  the 
usual  symptoms  of  a  violent  attack — increased  action  of 
the  heart,  shortness  of  breath,  and  that  general  feeling  of 
"all-overishness,"  as  strong  and  irresistible  as  could  have 
been  superinduced  by  any  other  possible  female  get-up.  I 
became  sadly  aware  of  the  fact  that  it  did  not  matter  how 
they  dressed,  they  had  the  same  power  to  find  the  soft  spot 
in  our  hearts  every  time.  It  is  male  destiny.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  St.  Paul,  "Brethren,  I  speak  as  a  man" — "I  lie 
not."      [Great  laughter.] 

Nor  were  their  efforts  confined  to  the  habilitating  of 
their  own  sex.  They  made  hats  of  the  same  material,  and 
nearly  all  the  clothing  worn  by  men  and  boys  was  woven 
and  made  up  by  them,  of  wool  or  cotton  or  a  mixture  of 
the  two  materials,  by  the  aid  of  the  old  hand-looms. 

In  the  way  of  eating  and  drinking  we    did  better,  es- 


LIFE   OF   VANCR.  457 

pecially  with  regard  to  the  leading  articles  of  diet.  Our 
farm  productions,  always  abundant  and  good,  were  made  still 
more  so  by  the  fact  that  there  was  no  sale  for  our  great 
staples,  cotton  and  tobacco,  and  our  fields  were  therefore 
devoted  to  edible  products.  Of  alcoholic  liquors  we  had 
too  much.  Corn  whiskey  and  aj^ple  brandy  were  both 
abundant  and  cheap.  If  any  of  my  auditors  happened  to 
be  in  Eastern  North  Carolina  during  that  time  he  will 
doubtless  have  heartburning  recollections  of  the  apple 
brandy  he  found  there,  under  the  somewhat  mysterious 
denomination  of  "new  dip."  But  I  shall  do — what  he 
perhaps  did  not — forbear.      [Laughter.] 

When  toward  the  close  of  the  war,  by  reason  of  the  cir- 
cumscribing of  the  scope  of  country  from  which  the  aimy 
obtained  its  supplies,  it  became  necessary  for  the  States  to 
forbid  the  use  of  grain  for  distillation,  various  other  sub- 
stances were  adopted.  A  drink  was  made  from  potatoes, 
from  rice,  from  pumpkins  and  turnips,  and  from  the  do- 
mestic sugar  cane,  called  sorghum.  A  brandy  was  also 
make  from  persimmons.  As  to  sorghum  whiskey  I  can 
only  say  that  in  its  flavor  and  its  effects  it  was  decidedly 
more  terrible  than  "an  army  with  banners."  On  the  short- 
est notice  it  could  furnish  its  victims  with  the  panoramic 
view  of  a  full  menagerie.  [Laughter.]  If  at  any  time 
during  your  visit  to  the  South  a  well  directed  stream  from 
a  few  barrels  of  it  could  have  been  fired  into  your  ranks, 
you  could  never  have  lived  to  honor  me  by  your  attention 
to  night.  x\s  to  the  brandy  made  from  the  native  persim- 
mon, it  had  some  good  traits,  one  of  which  was  that  it 
partook  of  the  highly  astringent  qualities  of  the  fruit.  I 
specially  commend  it  to  orator}-.  During  the  campaign  I 
made  for  Governor  in  1864,  a  speech  which  I  made  under 
the  refreshment  of  this  fluid  was  "  pronounced  one  of  the 
best  of  my  life,"  my  admiring  friends  declaring  it  to  be 
such,  because  the  astringent  drink  had  tended  to  shut  me 
up — and  I  had  said  less  than  usual !     Congress  could  not 


458  LIFE    OF   VANCE. 

do  wiser  than  to  purchase  a  quantity  of  that  beverage  for 
its  own  use.  [Applause  and  laughter.]  In  the  matter  of 
tea,  coffee  and  sugar  we  were  very  badly  off.  No  one  can 
imagine,  until  he  has  seen  it  tried,  how  dependent  people 
become  upon  these  gentle  beverages,  especially  the  aged 
and  infirm.  Whilst  there  are  several  tolerable  substitutes 
for  tea,  there  is  nothing  in  nature  that  can  at  all  supply 
the  place  of  the  gracious  Arabian  berry.  It  stands  alone 
in  the  catalogue  of  generous,  refresliing,  non-intoxicating 
stimulants,  and  more  so  perhaps  to  the  people  of  the  South 
than  to  any  other  in  Christendom.  Whilst  our  small  stock 
on  hand  lasted,  divers  and  sundry  expedients  were  adopted 
to  prolong  its  existence  by  mixtures  with  various  substances, 
parched  rye,  corn-meal,  chestnuts,  ochra  and  sweet  potatoes 
were  mingled  with  small  quantities  of  coffee  in  the  roast- 
ing, in  the  hope  that  the  royal  berry  would  assert  its 
superiority  by  imparting  at  least  a  portion  of  its  flavor  to 
the  ignoble  compound.  But  this  proved  a  delusion  and  a 
snare.  The  linked  sweetness  refused  to  be  long  drawn  out. 
Nature  abhored  the  bibulous  miscegenation,  and  the  throes 
of  deathlv  thirst  alone  rendered  it  sufferable.  A  wae  once 
recommended  that  it  be  roasted  with  pop-corn,  for  the 
reason  that,  in  the  process  of  roasting,  the  pop-corn  would 
all  jump  out  of  the  pan,  leaving  the  original  coffee  as  good 
as  ever.  [Laughter.]  But  when  the  last  grain  of  coffee 
had  been  used,  and  the  last  pound  of  sugar  which  could  be 
obtained  from  captured  lyouisiana  had  gone  with  it,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  did  we  realize  that  the  crisis  of  our  fate 
had  come,  and  blank  despair  had  settled  down  upon  the 
Southern  cause.  Without  the  flavor  or  the  shadow  of  a 
pretense  of  the  flavor  of  coffee,  we  were  reduced  to  the 
honest  truth  in  the  shape  of  a  drink  made  of  parched  rye 
sweetened  with  sorghum  molasses !  With  a  cheerful  mel- 
ancholy this  was  spoken  of  as  coffee,  in  deference  to  the 
customs  of  antiquity.  [Merriment.]  It  might  with  pro- 
priety be  described  as  the  fluid  form  of  secession — and  as 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  459 

the  last  and  a  most  faithful  support  of  the  Confederacy      I 
wonder  did  anyone  who  hears  me  to-night  ever  taste  it?    I 
am  firmly  persuaded  that  if  all  who  are  present  had  lived 
upon  it  for  one  week,  as  we  did  for  three  years,  they  would 
rise  as  one  man  from  their  seats  and  extending  both  hands 
towards  me,   would  exclaim:     "We  forgive  the  war    O, 
Rebel-  we  pardon  secession;  friends  and  brothers  you  have 
suffered    enough!"      [Tumultuous    laughter.]     To  say   as 
was  the  custom,  that  the  hopes  of  the  Confederacy  depended 
upon  the  brave  hearts  of  its  defenders  was  in  effect  to  take 
an  unpardonable  liberty  with  science;  these  hopes  rested 
chiefly  on  the  strong  stomachs  of  their  defenders!     Patri- 
otism had  become  a  question  of  dyspepsia  and  mghtmare ! 
But  a  truce  to  this  jesting  with  the  sadness  of  our  situa- 

^''^These  phvsical  privations  and  discomforts  did  not  produce 
any   serious'  dissatisfaction   with    our    cause.     They    were 
borne  by  all  classes  with  a  patient  composure.     No  one  was 
'    disposed  to  blame  the  government  for  them.     It  was  the 
utter  hopelessness  of  the  struggle  which  forced  itself  upon 
the  popular  mind  in  the  beginning  of  1S64  that  increased 
the  discontent  and  made  our  people  look  eagerly  around  for 
the  ways  which  led  to  peace.     It  was  seen  that  after  every 
creat  battle,  no  odds  what  the   result,   the   losses  to  the 
Union  arms  were  immediately  supplied,   whilst  the  gaps 
which  were  left  in  our  ranks  were  filled  no  more.     In  North 
Carolina  a  large  party,  composed  of  citizens  whose  opinions 
were  not  to  be  despised,  favored  the  making  of  some  effort 
in  the  direction  of  peace.     I  may  say  this  desire  was  almost 
universal,   but  the  difficulty   was  in  finding  that  way  m 
accordance  with  the  constitution  and  laws  wherewith  we 
had  bound  ourselves,  and  the  faith  which  we  had  plighted 
to  our  confederates.     By  acceding  to  the  Confederacy  and 
ioininc  our  fortunes  to  those  of  the  members  thereof,  an 
obvious  principle  of  honor  and  good  faith  restrained  any 
State  from  the  attempt  to  make  separate  terms  for  itself. 


460  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

According  to  the  constitution  which  we  had  assumed  to 
support,  the  Confederate  Executive  and  Senate  were  the 
lawful  agents  for  the  making  of  treaties.  When  requested 
to  attempt  negotiations  for  the  common  benefit  their  reply 
was  that  they  had  again  and  again  done  so,  with  the  inva- 
riable answer  that  no  terms  could  be  obtained  except  such 
as  amounted  to  unconditional  surrender.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion but  that  circumstances  rendered  it  impossible  for  the 
Confederate  officials  to  have  done  more  than  they  did  with- 
out a  manifest  violation  of  the  trust  reposed  in  them.  They 
could  not  commit  suicide.  So  with  a  full  conviction  that 
w^e  were  in  the  rapids  and  drifting  swiftly  on  to  the  final 
and  inevitable  catastrophe,  all  parties — State  and  Federal — 
were  so  bound  by  the  trammels  of  the  constitution  we  had 
so  unwisely  taken  upon  ourselves  to  support,  that  nobody 
could  interfere  without  apparent  dishonor.  We  could  only 
stand  still,  watching  our  brave  but  ragged  and  ill-fed  bat- 
talions as  they  wasted  away  in  the  vain  effort  to  work  a 
miracle  which  was  beyond  the  reach  of  human  courage, 
whilst  despair  lowered  sullenly  upon  the  hearts  of  a  noble 
people,  who  preferred  the  worst  which  fate  might  have  in 
store  for  them  rather  than  incur  the  suspicion  of  dishonor. 
We  could  now  see  something  of  that  fate.  There  awaited 
us  not  only  the  usual  penalties  of  subjugation — bitter 
enough  even  when  inflicted  by  an  organized  force  restrained 
by  discipline — but  all  the  license  of  demoralized  armies  and 
society  in  a  state  of  defeat.  The  land  was  already  darkened 
by  the  shadow  of  those  evils  which  are  born  of  lawlessness 
and  terror.  Thieves,  murderers,  and  beasts  of  prey  domi- 
nated the  land  and  outraged  the  helpless.  The  deserting 
soldier  turned  desperado  and  villain. 

"  Rough  and  hard  of  heart, 

With  full  liberty  of  the  blood}-  hand, 

Did  range  with  conscience  wide  as  hell." 

It  looked,  indeed,  so  like  chaos  come  to  reign  again  that 
the  army   of  the  United  States  appeared  to  us  as  a  deliv- 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  4^1 

erer  when  the  end  came,  becanse  its  battalions  at  least 
seemed  to  obey  somebody  and  to  be  governed  by  some  law  ; 
and  when  you  think  of  the  devastating  "bnmmers"  who 
followed  in  its  wake,  or  preceded  its  march,  you  will  under- 
stand the  utter  desperation  of  things  with  us.  May  God 
preserve  any  portion  of  the  American  people  from  the 
experience  of  a  country  drenched  in  the  blood  of  its  sons, 
desolated  by  the  tramp  of  armies,  exhausted  of  its  substance, 
bereft  of  its  laws  and  peacekeepers,  and  utterly  abandoned 
to  the  reign  of  unrestrained  and  unprincipled  violence.  I 
am  powerless  to  describe  it  or  make  you  even  faintly  sen- 
sible of  its  horrors.  Our  own  true  and  faithful  soldiers 
had  not  yet  returned  from  the  field,  and  it  was  not  until 
they  arrived  at  home  that  these  disorders  were  suppressed 
and  our  condition  became  tolerable. 

But  these  things  did  end  at  last,  as  all  things  must.  The 
last  Confederate  soldier  laid  down  his  arms,  the  flag  of  the 
Union  was  triumphant  everywhere,  and  the  bloody  drama 
of  secession  became  a  dream. 

Slowly  violence  and  disorder  passed  away  and  the  con- 
servative forces  of  society  began  to  assert  their  power  in 
the  restoration  of  law.  Their  action  was  quickened  by  the 
necessities  of  an  impoverished  and  well  nigh  heart-broken 
people,  whose  industries  so  sorely  needed  the  protection  of 
peace.  Chaos,  the  first  born,  spread  her  wings  in  flight, 
bearing:  her  black  daughter  Erebus  with  her  whilst  her 
nobler  progeny,  Day  and  vEther,  began  to  emerge  full  of 
hope  and  loving  promise  upon  the  face  of  "  broad-breasted 
Earth,"  calming  and  soothing  the  restless  surgings  of 
Civil  War.  After  gloomy  Tartarus,  the  Greek  poet  tells 
us,  came  Love.     Will  it  come  to  us  in  our  re-creation  ? 

My  faith  is  that  of  those  who  believe  that  all  human 
events — of  nations  as  of  individuals — are  wisely  as  well  as 
kindly  ordered  by  the  Great  Ruler  of  All  for  the  best  inter- 
est of  his  creatures,  and  so  that  the  very  wrath  of  man  is 
made  to  praise  Him.     Bitter  to  my  taste  as  the  results  of 


462  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

the  Civil  War  were,  day  after  day  has  reconciled  me  to 
them  and  convinced  me  of  the  wisdom  of  cheerful  submis- 
sion to  the  will  of  Him  who  brought  them  about.  The 
Union  of  these  States  has  been  preserved  and  declared 
indissoluble;  a  great  and  disturbing  constitutional  ques- 
tion has  been  finally  settled ;  and  slavery  has  been  forever 
abolished,  no  longer  to  tarnish  the  fair  fame  of  the  great, 
free  Republic.  Because  it  was  involved  in  the  question  of 
constitutional  right,  I  fought  four  years  in  its  defence ;  on 
the  honor  of  my  manhood,  I  assure  you,  though  my  hairs 
have  since  become  white,  that  I  would  fight  eight  years 
against  the  attempt  to  reinstate  it  in  my  country.  [Great 
applause.]  I  do  not  believe  there  is  one  man  to  the 
hundred  in  all  the  South  whose  sentiments  are  not  the 
same  ;  I  am  sure  there  is  not  in  the  land  of  my  nativity 
and  my  unchanging  love — North  Carolina. 

I  thank  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  my  audience  most 
earnestly  for  their  presence  and  attention  ;  I  thank  you. 
Union  soldiers  of  Massachusetts,  for  this  opportunity  of 
saying  in  your  midst  a  word  in  behalf  of  those  who  fought 
and  suffered  and  lost.      [Long  continued  applause.] 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  463 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

LECTURE LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

An  Address  Delivered  February  23,  1S85,  Before  the  Association  of  the 
Marj'land  Line  in  Baltimore — The  Gradual  Decline  of  Enthusiasm 
— The  Dying  of  Hope  and  Beginning  of  Despair — The  End  Came 
and  With  it  Complete  Anarchy — Sherman's  Devastating  March — 
Wanton  Destriiction  of  Property — His  Orders  Contrasted  With 
Those  of  Cornwallis,  and  With  Lee's  in  Pennsylvania — Ancient 
and  Modern  Authorities  on  Usages  of  War — Closing  Scenes — Battle 
of  Bentonville — ^Johnston  Evacuates  and  Sherman  Enters  Raleigh 
— Meets  President  Davis  at  Greensboro — Interview  as  to  Future 
Policy — Final  Good-Bye  to  Davis — Returns  to  Hillsboroand  Learns 
of  Assassination  of  Lincoln  and  of  Sherman's  Terms  of  Surrender 
— Stores  and  Supplies  on  Hand — Troops  Furnished  by  the  State — 
Her  Means  and  Vitality  not  Exhausted — Closing  vScenes  and  Inci- 
dents and  Personal  Experiences. 

THE  committee  of  your  association  who  waited  upon 
me,  and  invited  me  to  deliver  an  address  upon  tliis 
occasion,  will  bear  me  witness  how  loth  I  was  to  under- 
take the  task.  The  very  numerous  and  urgent  engagements' 
which  press  upon  a  member  of  Congress  in  the  closing 
days  of  its  session  are  such  as  to  positively  forbid  that  care 
and  accuracy  which  alone  make  the  value  of  any  historical 
address.  This  has  been  peculiarly  true  of  myself  from  the 
time  your  invitation  was  delivered.  Positively  I  have  not 
had  the  time  to  do  either  you  or  myself  justice,  but  about 
all  that  our  unfortunate  struggle  left  us  Confederates  was 
the  power  to  oblige  each  other.  You  insisted  upon  my 
coming,  and  here  I  am. 

For  the  want  of  opportunity  of  research,  I  have  chosen 
to  speak  to  you  about  the  closing  scenes  of  the  war,  the 
grand  culmination  of  which  happened  in  North  Carolina, 
for  the  reason  that  most  of  them  came  within  my  own 
personal  knowledge. 


464  LIFK   OF   VANCE. 

Perhaps  no  portion  of  that  memorable  struggle  presents 
a  sadder  picture.  Indeed,  history  shows  nothing  whatever 
more  pathetic  than  the  closing  scenes  of  any  great  and 
unsuccessful  struggle,  the  death-throes  of  a  cause  which 
had  engaged  the  affections  and  inspired  the  hopes  of  a 
whole  people.  The  philosophic  student  can  see  in  such  a 
spectacle  also  many  important  lessons  in  politics  and  in 
the  study  of  human  nature.  The  gradual  decline  of  that 
enthusiasm  which  at  first  bore  that  cause  on  to  delusive 
victor}',  sustained  it  at  flood-tide,  and  strove  fiercely  to 
maintain  it  against  the  ebb  ;  the  diminished  confidence  of 
the  weaker  party,  the  abortive  effort  to  meet  superior  with 
inferior  means  ;  that  noble  exaltation  of  the  heroic  spirit 
which  strives  to  overcome  fate  itself,  and  smiles  defiance 
at  misfortune ;  that  final  dying  away  of  hope  and  the  in- 
coming of  despair ;  the  demoralization  of  even  good  and 
brave  men  ;  the  humiliation  of  heart-broken  women  ;  the 
reckless  disregard  which  follows  when  all  law,  civil  and 
military,  is  withdrawn,  and  the  end  of  things  seems  to  be 
at  hand  ;  all  these  exhibitions  of  the  nature  and  possible 
conditions  of  a  people  were  there,  for  the  wond,er,  the  pity 
and  the  instruction  of  the  reflecting  mind.  In  kaleidos- 
copic array  each  phase  swept  across  the  stage,  as  storm- 
clouds  are  driven  across  the  sky,  culminating  in  that  moral 
darkness  of  men  ungoverned  by  law  or  motive,  and  women 
acting  without  hope.  All  these  things,  and  more,  I  wit- 
nessed among  my  own  people  in  those  unhappy  times ; 
from  the  day  when  the  first  company  of  volunteers  went 
forth  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  people,  as  to  a  festival, 
down  to  that  dark  hour  when  I  saw  the  last  regiment  of 
beardless  boys,  the  "  seed  corn  "  of  our  hopes,  pass  through 
the  unprotected  capital  of  our  State. 

To  the  new  generation,  or  even  to  contemporaries  far 
removed,  the  recounting  of  these  scenes  may  excite  only 
the  ordinary  emotions  of  those  who  read  history.     To  us 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  4^5 

who  witnessed  and  participated  in  them,  the  bringing  of 
them  up  afresh  is  like  lifting  the  face-cloth  of  the  dead.    ^ 

There  is  one  feature  of  those  times  I  will  mention  as 
most  worthy  of  note  and  a  phase  creditable  to  our  nature. 
Although  war  does  excite,  and  with  us  did  excite  many 
evil  passions — for  it  is  both  excessive  law  and  absence  of 
law  and  license  to  violence — yet  this  barbaric  propensity, 
which  was  evolved  by  the  removal  of  all  restraint,  very 
soon  exhausted  itself,  and  the  people  waited  anxiously  for 
the  return  of  civil  authority,  as  benighted  men  watch  for 
the  dawn. 

From  April  to  October,  1865,  the  people  of  North  Caro- 
lina were  absolutely  without  law,  civil  or  military.  There 
was  not  a  judge  on  the  bench,  not  a  magistrate  or  sheriff, 
constable  or  any  kind  of  civil  servant  or  conservator  of  the 
peace  to  be  found  in  the  State  invested  with  legal  author- 
ity. A  complete  social  chaos  reigned,  yet  profound  and 
perfect  peace  existed  throughout  our  borders.  The  instincts 
of  order  were  sublimely  present,  and  never  did  any  por- 
tion of  the  great  race  to  which  we  belong  give  stronger 
proof  of  its  capacity  for  self-government  and  its  innate 
desire  for  civilization. 

When  the  year  1865  dawned  it  was  apparent  to  every 
intelligent  observer  that  the  Southern  Confederacy  was 
doomed.  A  glimpse  of  the  situation  showed  that  Lee  was 
holding  Richmond  by  a  mere  skirmish  line,  in  twenty 
miles  of  trenches,  on  both  sides  of  the  James,  against  Grant 
with  an  army  of  180,000  men.  Wilmington  and  Charles- 
ton, our  only  available  seaports,  were  still  in  our  possession, 
but  hastening  to  their  fall.  Sherman's  march  to  the 
sea  had  been  accomplished  ;  Savannah  had  passed  into  his 
possession,  and  it  had  been  demonstrated  not  only  that 
the  Confederate  military  forces  of  the  Southwest  were 
unable  to  stay  him,  but  that  no  hostility  was  to  be  expect- 
ed from  the  despairing  people  whose  homes  he  ravaged. 
With  75,000  victorious  troops  he  was  preparing  for  his 

31 


466  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

home-stretch  toward  Richmond,  driving  before  him  the 
scattered  detachments,  fragments  of  garrisons  of  cities  and 
towns,  abandoned  on  his  approach,  and  other  portions  of 
the  Confederate  forces,  amonnting  to  not  more  than  22,000 
men  of  all  arms. 

In  addition  to  this  almost  hopeless  condition  of  things 
on  the  theatre  of  the  main  armies  the  interior  and  rear 
were  harrassed  and  overrun  by  strong  bodies  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  who  burned  and  plundered  in  defenceless  sections 
to  their  hearts'  content.  Nowhere  was  there  a  gleam  of 
hope  ;  nowhere  had  there  come  to  us  any  inspiriting  success. 
Everything  spoke  of  misfortune  and  failure.  The  political 
situation  of  course  sympathized  w'ith  the  military.  The 
people  were  utterly  without  hope,  and  what  they  did  to- 
wards supporting  the  struggle  v/as  perfunctory  or  from  a 
strong  sense  of  good  faith  and  honor.  The  chief  motive 
of  the  more  intelligent  was  the  knowledge  that  energetic 
action  could  at  least  help  us  to  secure  better  terms  and 
avert  the  evils  which  a  premature  and  cowardly  giving  up 
would  be  sure  to  bring  upon  us.  This  was  emphatically 
the  feeling  in  North  Carolina  as  we  waited  for  the  final 
movement  of  Sherman  towards  our  borders. 

On  the  ist  day  of  February,  1865,  that  movement  began. 
With  irresistible  force  his  columns  began  their  march 
through  the  southern  regions  of  South  Carolina  towards 
Columbia,  and  apparently  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and 
so  on  into  Virginia  along  the  track  of  vSherman's  last  great 
predecessor.  Lord  Cornwallis,  in  1781.  But  whether  it  was 
that  he  feared  the  winter  mud  of  the  North  Carolina  hill 
country,  or  that  he  did  not  care  to  trust  himself  to  such 
combinations  of  the  Confederates  as  might  cross  his  path 
so  far  in  the  interior,  he  left  Lord  Cornwallis'  track  near 
Winnsboro,  vSouth  Carolina,  and  turning  to  the  right  made 
for  Fayetteville,  crossing  the  Catawba  and  the  Great 
Peedee.  His  army  marched  in  two  great  divisions,  near  a 
day's  march  apart,  thus  covering  and   devastating  a  wide 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  467 

expanse  of  country.  With  reference  to  this  famous  and  in- 
famous march,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  hope  I  am  too  much 
of  a  man  to  complain  of  the  natural  and  inevitable  hard- 
ships, or  even  cruelties  of  war ;  but  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  army  treated  the  peaceful  and  defenceless  in- 
habitants in  the  reach  of  its  columns  all  civilization  should 
complain.  There  are  always  stragglers  and  desperadoes 
following  in  the  wake  of  an  army  who  do  some  damage  to 
and  inflict  so}}ic  outrages  upon  helpless  citizens  in  spite  of 
all  the  efforts  of  commanding  officers  to  restrain  and 
punish  ;  but  when  a  general  organizes  a  corps  of  thieves 
and  plunderers  as  a  part  of  his  invading  army,  and  licenses 
beforehand  their  outrages,  he  and  all  who  countenance,  aid 
or  abet,  invite  the  execration  of  mankind.  This  peculiar 
arm  of  the  military  service,  it  is  charged  and  believed,  was 
instituted  by  General  Sherman  in  his  invasion  of  the 
Southern  States.  Certain  it  is  that  the  operations  of  his 
"Bummer  Corps"  w^ere  as  regular  and  as  unrebuked,  if  not 
as  much  commended  for  efficiency,  as  any  other  division  of 
his  army,  and  their  atrocities  are  often  justified  or  excused 
on  the  ground  that  "such  is  war." 

In  his  own  official  report  of  his  operations  in  Georgia  he 
says  :  "  We  consumed  the  corn  and  fodder  in  the  region  of 
country  thirty  miles  on  either  side  of  a  line  from  Atlanta 
to  Savannah ;  also  the  sweet  potatoes,  hogs,  sheep  and 
poultry,  and  carried  off  more  than  ten  thousand  horses  and 
mules.  I  estimate  the  damage  done  to  the  State  of  Georgia 
at  one  hundred  million  dollars,  at  least  twenty  million  of 
which  inured  to  our  benefit,  and  the  remainder  was  simply 
waste  and  destruction!"  The  same  chivalric  course  of 
w^arfare  was  continued,  only  worse,  through  South  and 
North  Carolina.  The  ";-^;//<7z;z</^r,"  delicately  alluded  to 
— that  is  to  say,  the  damage  done  to  the  unresisting  inhabi- 
tants over  and  above  the  seizing  of  necessary  army  supplies 
consisted  in  private  houses  burned,  stock  shot  down  and 
left  to  rot,  bed  clothes,  money,  watches,  spoons,  plate  and 


468  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

ladies'  jewelry  stolen,  etc.,  etc.  A  lane  of  desolation  sixty 
miles  wide  through  the  heart  of  three  great  States,  marked 
by  more  burnings  and  destruction  than  ever  followed  in 
the  wake  of  the  wildest  cyclone  that  ever  laid  forest  low ! 
And  all  done  not  to  support  an  invading  army,  but  for 
"  pure  waste  and  destruction  ; "  to  punish  the  crime  of 
rebellion,  not  in  the  persons  of  those  who  had  brought 
these  things  about,  but  of  the  peaceful  non-combatants, 
the  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  women  and  children,  the  aged 
and  feeble  and  the  poor  slaves.  A  silver  spoon  was  evi- 
dence of  disloyalty,  a  ring  on  a  lady's  finger  was  sure  proof 
of  sympathy  with  rebellion,  whilst  a  gold  watch  \\3.s  pritua 
facie  evidence  of  most  damnable  guilt  on  the  part  of 
the  wearer.  These  obnoxious  ear-marks  of  treason  must 
be  seized  and  confiscated  for  private  use — for  such  is  war  ! 

As  proof  that  these  things  met  the  approbation  of  the 
officers  of  that  army,  hundreds  of  instances  can  be  cited, 
where  the  depredations  were  committed  in  full  view  of  the 
officers.  Many  can  be  shown  where  they  participated  in 
the  plunder;  and  nowhere  has  any  case  come  under  my 
observation  or  within  my  knowledge,  in  which  the  perpe- 
trators were  even  rebuked — much  less  punished.  In  vain 
did  the  terrified  people  secrete  their  valuables  upon  the 
approach  of  Sherman's  army;  with  infernal  skill  this  corps 
of  bummers  maintained  their  high  reputation  as  the  most 
expert  thieves  on  earth,  by  ransacking  every  conceivable 
place  of  concealment,  penetrating  every  suspicious  spot  of 
earth  with  their  ramrods  and  bayonets,  searching  every 
cellar,  out-house,  nook  and  cranny. 

If  these  failed,  and  they  sometimes  did,  torture  of  the 
inhabitants  was  freely  employed  to  force  disclosure. 
Sometimes,  with  noble  rage  at  their  disappointment,  the 
victims  were  left  dead  as  a  warning  to  all  others  who 
should  dare  hide  a  jewel  or  a  family  trinket  from  the 
cupidity  of  a  "Soldier  of  the  Union."  No  doubt  the  stern 
necessity  for  such  things  caused  great  pain  to  those  who 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  4^9 

inflicted  them,  but  the  Union  must  be  restored,  and  how 
could  that  be  done  whilst  a  felonious  gold  watch  or  a  trea- 
sonable spoon  was  suffered  to  remain  in  the  land,  giving 
aid  and  comfort  to  rebellion?  For  such  is  war!  Are 
such  things  war,  indeed  ?     Let  us  see  : 

Eighty-four  years  before  that  time,  there  was  a  war  in 
that  same  country ;  it  was  a  rebellion,  too,  and  an  English 
nobleman  led  the  troops  of  Great  Britain  through  that  same 
region,  over  much  of  the  same  route,  in  his  efforts  to  sub- 
due that  rebellion.  The  people  through  whose  land  he 
marched  were  bitterly  hostile;  they  shot  his  foraging 
parties,  his  sentinels  and  stragglers ;  they  fired  upon  him 
from  every  wood. 

He  and  his  troops  had  every  motive  to  hate  and  to  pun- 
ish those  rebellious  and  hostile  people.  It  so  happens  that 
the  original  order-book  of  Lord  Cornwallis  is  in  possession 
of  the  North  Carolina  Historical  Society.  I  have  seen  and 
read  it.  Let  us  make  a  few  extracts,  and  see  what  he  con- 
sidered zvar,  and  what  he  thought  to  be  the  duty  of  a 
civilized  soldier  towards  non-combatants  and  the   helpless. 

Camp  near  BeaTTy'S  Ford,  January  28th,  1781. 
Lord  Cornwallis  has  so  often  experienced  the  zeal  and  good  will  of 
the  army,  that  he  has  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  the  officers  and 
soldiers  will  most  cheerfully  submit  to  the  ill  conveniences  that  must 
naturally  attend  war,  so  remote  from  water-carriage  and  the  magazines 
of  the  army.  The  supply  of  rum  for  a  time  will  be  absolutely  impossi- 
ble and  that  of  meal  very  uncertain.  It  is  needless  to  point  out  to  the 
officers  the  necessity  of  preserving  the  strictest  discipline,  and  of  pre- 
venting the  oppressed  people  from  suffering  violence  by  the  hands 
from  whom  they  are  taught  to  look  for  protection  ! 

Now  General  Sherman  was  fighting,  as  he  said,  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  restoring  the  Union,  and  for  making  the 
people  of  the  rebellious  States  look  to  the  Union  alone  for 
protection ;  does  any  act  or  order^of  his  anywhere  indicate 
a  similar  desire  of  protecting  the  people  from  suffering  at 
the  hands  of  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  protect  them  ? 

Aeain — 


470  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Headquarters,  Cansler's  Plantation,  February  2d,  1781. 
Lord  Cornwallis  is  highly  displeased  that  several  houses  have  been 
set  on  fire  to-day  during  the  march — a  disgrace  to  the  army — and  he 
will  punish  with  the  utmost  severity  any  person  or  persons  who  shall 
be  found  guilty  of  committing  so  disgraceful  an  outrage.  His  Lordship 
requests  the  commanding  officers  of  the  corps  will  endeavor  to  find  the 
persons  set  fire  to  the  houses  this  day. 

Now  think  of  the  inarch  of  Sherman's  army,  which  could 
be  discovered  a  great  way  off  by  the  smoke  of  burning 
homesteads  by  day  and  the  lurid  glare  of  flames  by  night, 
from  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  from  Columbia  to  Fayetteville, 
and  suppose  that  such  an  order  as  this  had  been  issued  by 
its  commanding  officer  and  rigidly  executed,  would  not  the 
mortality  have  been  quite  equal  to  that  of  a  great  battle  ? 

Arriving  in  Fayetteville  on  the  loth  of  January,  1865,  he 
not  only  burned  the  arsenal,  one  of  the  finest  in  the  United 
States,  which  perhaps  he  might  have  properly  done,  but  he 
also  burned  five  private  dwelling-houses  nearby,  he  burned 
the  principal  printing  office,  that  of  the  old  "Fayetteville 
Observer,"  he  burned  the  old  Bank  of  North  Carolina,  eleven 
large  warehouses,  five  cotton  mills  and  quite  a  number  of 
private  dwellings  in  other  parts  of  the  town,  whilst  in  the 
suburbs  almost  a  clean  sweep  was  made;  in  one  locality 
nine  houses  were  burned.  Universally,  houses  were  gutted 
before  they  were  burned ;  and  after  everything  portable 
was  secured  the  furniture  was  ruthlessly  destroyed — pianos, 
on  which  perhaps  rebel  tunes  had  been  played — "Dixie"  or 
"My  Maryland" — disloyal  bureaus,  traitorous  tables  and 
chairs  were  cut  to  pieces  with  axes ;  and  frequently,  after 
all  this  damage  fire  was  applied,  and  all  consumed.  Car- 
riages and  vehicles  of  all  kinds  were  wantonly  destroyed  or 
burned ;  instances  could  be  given  of  old  men  who  had  the 
shoes  taken  from  their  feet,  the  hats  from  their  heads  and 
clothes  from  their  persons,  their  wives  and  children  sub- 
jected to  like  treatment.  In  one  instance  as  the  marauders 
left  they  shot  down  a  dozen  cattle  belonging  to  an  old  man, 
and  left  their  carcasses  lying  in  the  3'ard.     Think  of  that, 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  47  ^ 

and  then  remember  the  grievance  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Dutch  farmers  who  came  in  all  seriousness  to  complain  to 
General  Longstreet,  in  the  Gettysburg  campaign,  of  the 
outrage  which  some  of  his  ferocious  rebels  had  committed 
v.-^or^\\\^\\\hy  milking  thch' cows!  On  one  occasion,  at 
Fayetteville,  four  gentlemen  were  hung  up  by  the  neck 
until  nearly  dead  to  force  them  to  disclose  where  their  val- 
uables were  hidden,  and  one  of  them  was  shot  to  death. 
Again — 

Headquarters,  Dobbins  House,  February  17,  1781. 
Lord  Cornwallis  Is  very  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  call  the  attention  of 
the  officers  of  the  army  to  the  repeated  orders  against  plundering,  and 
he  assures  the  officers  that  if  their  duty  to  the  King  and  country,  and 
their  feeling  for  humanity  are  not  sufficient  to  force  their  obedience  to 
them,  he  must,  however,  reluctantly  make  use  of  such  powers  as 
the  military  laws  have  placed  in  his  hands.  *  *  *  *  It  is  expected 
that  Captains  will  exert  themselves  to  keep  good  order  and  prevent 
plundering.  *  *  *  *  Any  officer  who  looks  07i  zvith  indifference 
and  does  not  do  his  utmost  to  prevent  shameful  marauding  will  be 
considered  in  a  more  criminal  light  than  the persotis  who  commit 
these  scandalous  crimes,  ^h.{ch.mxisthxing  disgrace  and  ruin  on  his 
Majesty's  service.  All  foraging  parties  will  give  receipts  for  the  sup- 
plies taken  by  them. 

Now,  taking  it  for  granted  that  Lord  Cornwallis,  a  dis- 
tinguished soldier  and  a  gentleman,  is  an  authority  on  the 
rights  of  war,  could  there  be  found  anywhere  a  more  dam- 
natory comment  upon  the  practices  of  General  Sherman 
and  his  army? 

Again — 

Headquarters,  Freehands,  February  28,  1781. 

JMemorandum. 

A  watch  found  by  the  regiment  of  Bose.     The  owner  may  have  it 

from  the  Adjutant  of  that  regiment  upon  proving  property. 

x\nother — 

Smith's  Plantation,  March  i,  1781. 

Brigade  Orders. 
*  *  *  *  A  woman  having  been  robbed  of  a  watch,  a  black  silk 
handkerchief,  a  gallon  of  peach  brandy  and  a  shirt,  and  as  by  the 
description,  by  a  soldier  of  the  guards,  the  camp  and  every  man's  kit 
is  to  be  immediately  searched  for  the  same,  by  the  officer  of  the 
Brigade, 


472  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

Are  there  any  poets  in  the  audience,  or  other  persons  in 
whom  the  imaginative  faculty  has  been  largely  cultivated? 
If  so,  let  me  beg  him  to  do  me  the  favor  of  conceiving,  if 
he  can,  and  make  manifest  to  me  the  idea  of  a  notice  of  a 
lost  watch  being  given,  in  general  orders,  by  Wm.  Tecum- 
seh  Sherman,  and  the  offer  to  return  it  on  proof  of  property 
by  the  rebel  owner  !  Let  him  imagine,  if  he  can,  the 
searching  of  every  man's  kit  in  that  army  for  a  stolen 
watch,  a  shirt,  a  black  silk  handkerchief  and  a  gallon  of 
peach  brandy — because  "such  is  war." 

Time  and  your  patience  forbid  that  I  should  further 
quote  from  this  interesting  record  of  the  war  of  1781. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  whole  policy  and  conduct  of 
that  British  commander  was  such  as  to  indicate  unmis- 
takably that  he  did  not  consider  the  burning  of  private 
houses,  the  stealing  of  private  property,  and  the  outraging 
of  helpless,  private  citizens  as  IVar,  but  as  robbery  and 
arson.  I  venture  to  say  that  up  to  the  period  when  that 
great  march  taught  us  the  contrary,  no  humane  general  or 
civilized  people  in  Christendom  believed  that  "j//r//  zcas 
war^  Has  civilization  gone  backward  since  Lord  Corn- 
wallis'  day?  Have  arson  and  vulgar  theft  been  ennobled 
into  heroic  virtues?  If  so,  when  and  by  whom?  Has  the 
art  of  discovering  a  poor  man's  hidden  treasure  by  fraud 
or  torture  been  elevated  into  the  strategy  which  wins  a 
campaign?     If  so,  when  and  by  whom? 

No,  sir,  it  will  not  do  to  slur  over  these  things  hy  a  vague 
reference  to  the  inevitable  cruelties  of  war.  The  time  is 
fast  coming  when  the  conduct  of  that  campaign  will  be 
looked  upon  in  the  light  of  real  humanity  and  investigated 
with  the  real  historic  spirit  which  evolves  tnttJi  and  all 
the  partisan  songs  which  have  been  sung,  or  orations  which 
subservient  orators  have  spoken,  about  that  great  march  to 
the  sea,  and  all  the  caricatures  of  Southern  leaders  which 
the  bitterness  of  a  diseased  sectional  sentiment  has  inspired, 
and  all  the  glamour  of  a  great  success,  shall  not  avail  to 


I.IFE   OF   VANCE.  473 

restrain  the  inexorable,  the  illuminating  pen  of  history. 
Truth  like  charity  never  faileth.  Whether  there  be  pro- 
phecies they  shall  fail;  whether  there  be  tongues  they 
shall  cease;  whether  there  be  knowledge  it  shall  vanish 
away;  but  when  the  truth  which  is  perfect  has  come,  then 
that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away. 

Now  let  us  contrast  General  Sherman  with  his  greatest 
foe,  likewise  the  greatest,  certainly  the  most  humane 
general  of  modern  times,  and  see  whether  he  regarded  the 
pitiless  destruction  of  the  substance  of  women  and  children 
and  inoffensive  inhabitants  as  legitimate  war. 

Headquarters  Army  Northern  Virginia,  June  27,  1863. 
General  Order  No.  /j. 
The  Commanding  General  has  observed  with  marked  satisfaction 
the  conduct  of  the  troops  on  the  march.  There  have,  however,  been 
instances  of  forgetfulness  on  the  part  of  some  that  they  have  in  keep- 
ing the  yet  unsullied  reputation  of  this  army,  and  that  the  duties  ex- 
acted of  us  by  civiUzation  and  Christianity  are  not  less  obligatory  in 
the  country  of  the  enemy  than  our  own.  The  Commanding  General 
considers  that  no  greater  disgrace  could  befall  the  army,  and  through 
it  our  whole  people,  than  the  perpetration  of  barbarous  outrages  upon 
the  unarmed  and  defenceless,  and  the  wanton  destruction  of  private 
property,  that  have  marked  the  course  of  the  enemy  in  our  own  coun- 
try. *  *  *  *  *  It  will  be  remembered  that  we  make  war  only 
upon  armed  men.  R.  E.  LEE,  General. 

The  himianity  and  Christian  spirit  of  this  order  were  such 
as  to  challenge  the  admiration  of  foreign  nations.  The 
London  Times  commented  upon  it,  and  its  American 
correspondent  said  :  "  The  greatest  surprise  has  been  ex- 
pressed to  me  by  officers  from  the  Austrian,  Prussian  and 
English  armies,  each  of  which  has  representatives  here, 
that  volunteer  troops,  provoked  by  nearly  twenty-seven 
months  of  unparalleled  ruthlessness  and  wantonness,  of 
\vhich  their  country  has  been  the  scene,  should  be  under 
such  control,  and  willing  to  act  in  harmony  with  the  long- 
suffering  and  forbearance  of  President  Davis  and  General 
Lee." 

To  show  how  this  order  was  executed,   the  same  writer 


474  LIPS  OP  VA^XE. 

tells  a  story  of  how  he  witnessed  with  his  own  eyes  General 
Lee  and  a  surgeon  of  his  command  repairing  the  damage  to 
a  farmer's  fence.  Col.  McClnre,  of  Philadelphia,  a  Union 
soldier  himself,  bears  witness  to  the  good  conduct  of  Lee's 
ragged  rebels  in  that  famous  campaign.  He  tells  of  hun- 
dreds of  them  coming  to  him  and  asking  for  a  little  bread 
and  coffee,  and  the  others  who  were  wet  and  shivering 
"asking  permission  "  to  enter  a  house  in  which  they  saw  a 
bright  fire,  to  warm  themselves  until  their  coffee  should  be 
ready. 

Hundreds  of  similar  instances  could  be  given,  substanti- 
ated by  the  testimony  of  men  on  both  sides,  to  show  the 
splendid  humanity  of  that  great  invasion.  Blessed  be  the 
good  God,  who,  if  in  His  wisdom.  He  denied  us  success, 
yet  gave  to  us  and  our  children  the  rich  inheritance  of  this 
great  example. 

Now,  there  is  Lee's  order  on  entering  Pennsylvania,  and 
there  are  the  proofs  referred  to  of  the  good  faith  with 
which  that  order  was  executed.  Was  any  such  humane 
order  issued  by  General  Sherman  when  he  began  his  march 
through  Georgia,  South  and  North  Carolina?  If  so,  let  the 
numberless  and  atrocious  outrages  which  characterized  his 
every  step  speak  as  to  the  mala  fides  with  which  it  was 
executed.  Let  a  few  other  things  also  speak.  Major 
General  Halleck,  then,  I  believe,  commander-in-chief, 
under  the  President,  of  the  armies  of  the  Union,  on  the 
1 8th  of  December,  1864,  dispatched  as  follows  to  General 
Sherman,  then  in  Savannah  :  "Should  you  capture  Charles- 
ton, I  hope  that  by  some  accidejit  the  place  may  be 
destroyed ;  and  if  a  little  salt  should  be  sown  upon  its  site 
it  may  prevent  the  growth  of  future  crops  of  nullification 
and  secession."  On  the  24th  of  December,  1864,  General 
Sherman  made  the  following  answer  :  "  I  will  bear  in  mind 
your  hint  as  to  Charleston,  and  don't  think  'salt'  will  be 
necessary.  When  I  move  the  Fifteenth  corps  will  be  on  the 
right  of  the  right  wing,  and  their  position  will  bring  them 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  475 

naturally  into  Charleston  first,  and  if  you  have  watched 
the  history  of  that  corps  you  will  have  remarked  that  they 
generally  do  their  work  up  pretty  well.  The  truth  is,  the 
whole  army  is  burning  with  an  insatiable  desire  to  wreak 
vengeance  upon  South  Carolina.  I  almost  tremble  at  her 
fate,  but  feel  that  she  deserves  all  that  seems  in  store  for 
her.  *  *  *  I  look  upon-  Columbia  as  quite  as  bad  as 
Charleston  !  "  Therefore  Columbia  was  burned  to  ashes. 
And  though  he  knew  what  was  in  store  for  South  Carolina, 
so  horrible  that  even  he  trembled,  he  took  no  steps  to  avert 
it,  for  he  felt  that  she  deserved  it  all.  Did  she,  indeed  ? 
What  crime  had  she  committed  that  placed  her  outside  the 
protection  of  the  law  of  civilized  nations  ?  What  unjust 
and  barbarous  or  brutal  conduct  had  she  been  guilty  of  to 
bring  her  within  the  exceptions  laid  down  by  the  writers 
on  the  laws  of  war  as  authorizing  extraordinary  severity 
of  punishment?  They  are  not  even  imputed  to  her. 
South  Carolina's  crime  and  the  crime  of  all  the  secedino- 
States  was  that  of  a  construction  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  differing  from  that  of  General  Sherman  and 
the  Fifteenth  Corps — which  "  always  did  up  its  work  pretty 
well." 

Happily,  the  Divine  Goodness  has  made  the  powers  of 
recuperation  even  superior  to  those  of  destruction,  and 
though  their  overthrow  was  so  complete  that  "  salt  "  was 
not  needed  as  the  type  of  utter  desolation,  yet  Marietta 
and  Atlanta  are  thriving  and  prosperous  cities,  and  Col- 
umbia has  once  more  resumed  her  poetic  name — the  city  of 
roses ;  and  but  recently  I  read,  with  satisfaction,  that  the 
good  old  town  of  Fayetteville  is  fast  rebuilding  her  fac- 
tories, and  boasts  of  having  but  lately  recovered  much  of 
her  ancient  trade. 

I  mean  further  to  contrast  this  march  to  the  sea  with 
the  opinions  of  the  great  American  writer  on  international 
law,  Chancellor  Kent.  Treating  of  plunder  on  land  and 
depredations  on  private  property,  he  says  (pa-rt  i.  Sec.   5) : 


476  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

"  Such  conduct  has  been  condemned  in  all  ages,  by  the  wise 
and  the  virtuous,  and  it  is  usually  punished  severely  by 
those  commanders  of  disciplined  troops  who  have  studied 
war  as  a  science,  and  are  animated  by  a  sense  of  duty  or 
love  of  fame.  *  *  *  *  jf  iIiq  conqueror  goes  beyond 
these  limits  wantonly,  or  when  it  is  not  clearly  indispen- 
sable to  the  just  purposes  of  war,  and  seizes  private  property 
of  pacific  persons  for  the  sake  of  gain,  and  destroys  private 
dwellings  or  public  edifices  devoted  to  civil  purposes  only, 
or  makes  war  upon  monuments  of  art  and  models  of  taste, 
he  violates  the  modern  usages  of  war,  and  is  sure  to  meet 
with  indignant  resentment,  and  to  be  held  up  to  the  gen- 
eral scorn  and  detestation  of  the  world."  If  Kent,  although 
studied  by  General  Sherman  at  West  Point,  be  not  a 
sufiicient  authority  for  his  condemnation,  let  us  try  him  by 
the  opinion  of  Major-General  Halleck — the  "salt"  sug- 
gester  above  referred  to — and  see  what  he  sa}^s  in  his  cooler 
moments  concerning  the  rights  of  unarmed  inhabitants 
during  war. 

In  his  International  Law  and  Laws  of  War,  published  in 
1 86 1,  treating  of  the  ancient  practice  which  made  all 
private  property  of  the  enemy  subject  to  confiscation,  he 
says:  "But  the  modern  usage  is  not  to  touch  private  prop- 
erty on  land  without  making  compensation,  except  in 
certain  specified  cases.  These  exceptions  may  be  stated 
under  three  general  heads :  First,  confiscations  or  seizures  by 
way  of  penalty  for  military  offenses ;  second,  forced  contri- 
butions for  the  support  of  the  invading  army,  or  as  an 
indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  maintaining  order  and 
affording  protection  to  the  conquered  inhabitants ;  and, 
third,  property  taken  on  the  field  of  battle,  or  in  storming 
a  fortress  or  town."  Again  the  same  author  says  (Chap. 
19,  page  451):  "The  evils  resulting  from  irregular  requi- 
sitions and  foraging  for  the  ordinary  supplies  of  an  army 
are  so  very  great  and  so  generally  admitted,  that  it  has 
become  a  recognized  maxim  of  war,  that  tlie  commanding 


LIFE    OF   VANCE.  477 

officer  who  permits  indiscriminate  pillage,  and  allows  the 
taking  of  private  property  without  a  strict  accountability 
*  *  *  fails  in  his  duty  to  his  own  government,  and 
violates  the  usages  of  modern  warfare.  It  is  sometimes 
alleged,  in  excuse  for  such  conduct,  that  the  general  is 
unable  to  restrain  his  troops,  but  in  the  eye  of  the  law 
there  is  no  excuse,  for  he  who  cannot  preserve  order  in  his 
army  has  no  right  to  command  it." 

Once  m.ore,  let  us  bring  this  general  to  the  test  of  the 
code  prepared  for  the  government  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States  by  Frances  Ivieber. 

Section  20  reads  as  follows:  "Private  property,  unless 
forfeited  by  crimes  or  by  offenses  of  the  owner  against  the 
safety  of  the  army  or  the  dignity  of  the  United  States, 
and  after  due  conviction  of  the  owner  by  court  martial,  can 
be  seized  only  by  way  of  military  necessity  for  the  support 
or  other  benefit  of  the  army  or  of  the  United  States." 
Section  24  reads:  "All  wanton  violence  committed  against 
persons  in  the  invaded  country ;  all  destruction  of  property 
not  commanded  by  the  authorized  officer;  all  robbery;  all 
pillage  or  sacking,  even  after  taking  a  place  by  main  force  ; 
all  rape,  wounding,  maiming  or  killing  of  such  inhabitants, 
are  prohibited  under  the  penalty  of  death,  or  such  other 
severe  punishment  as  may  seem  adequate  for  the  gravity  of 
the  offense."  Section  27  reads  as  follows :  "Crimes  punish- 
able by  all  penal  codes,  such  as  arson,  murder,  maiming, 
assaults,  highway  robbery,  theft,  burglary,  fraud,  forgery, 
and  rape,  if  committed  by  an  American  soldier  in  a  hostile 
country  against  its  inhabitants,  are  not  only  punishable  as 
at  home,  but  in  all  cases  in  which  death  is  not  inflicted, 
the  severer  punishment  shall  be  preferred,  because  the 
criminal  has,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  prostituted  the  power 
conferred  on  a  man  of  arms,  and  prostrated  the  dignity  of 
the  United  States." 

One  more  short  quotation  from  this  code  prepared  by  Dr. 
Lieber  I  will  give,  not  so  much  for  its  authority  as  because 


478  LIFK  OF  VANCE. 

it  is  so  eminently  ludicrous  in  the  light  of  the  way  in 
which  it  was  observed  by  Sherman's  bunmiers.  Listen — 
Section  40.  "It  is  the  usage  in  European  armies  that 
money  and  all  valuables  on  the  person  of  a  prisoner,  such 
as  watches  or  jewelry,  as  well  as  extra  clothing  belong  to 
the  captor ;  but  it  distinguishes  the  army  of  the  United 
States  that  the  appropriation  of  such  articles  or  money  is 
considered  dishonorable,  and  not  suffered  by  the  officers." 
Ah! 

To  the  same  effect  are  all  the  great  writers  on  public  law 
for  more  than  two  centuries  back.  Woolsey,  Vattel,  Gro- 
tiers,  Puffendorf,  Poison,  Jomini  and  the  rest  of  them, 
almost  without  exception.  In  fact  every  one  of  any  note 
condemns  in  unmistakable  terms  the  destruction  and 
indiscriminate  pillaging  of  private  property  of  unarmed 
people  in  a  time  of  war.  Even  the  followers  of  ^Mahomet, 
cruel  and  bloodthirsty  as  they  were,  recognized  to  its  full 
extent  the  justice  and  propriety  of  these  principles.  The 
Caliph  Abubekr,  in  634,  when  sending  forth  his  generals 
to  the  conquest  of  Syria,  gave  them  instructions  which 
General  Sherman  cannot  read  without  a  sense  of  shame. 
Abubekr,  an  old  man,  accompanied  the  army  on  foot  on 
its  first  day's  march,  and  when  the  blushing  leaders 
attempted  to  dismount,  says  the  historian,  the  Caliph 
removed  their  scruples  by  a  declaration  that  those  who 
rode  and  those  who  walked  in  the  service  of  religion  were 
equally  meritorious.  "  Remember,"  said  the  successor  of 
the  Prophet  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Syrian  army,  "that  you 
are  always  in  the  presence  of  God,  on  the  verge  of  death, 
in  the  assurance  of  judgment  and  the  hope  of  paradise. 
Avoid  injustice  and  oppression,  consult  with  your  brethren 
and  study  to  preserve  the  love  and  confidence  of  your 
troops.  When  you  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord  acquit 
yourselves  like  men,  without  turning  your  backs,  but  let 
not  your  victory  be  stained  with  the  blood  of  women  or 
children.     Destroy  no  palm  trees  nor  burn   any  fields  of 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  479 

corn.  Cut  down  no  fniit  trees  nor  do  any  mischief  to 
cattle,  only  such  as  you  kill  to  eat.  When  you  make  any 
covenant  or  article  stand  to  it,  and  be  as  good  as  your 
word.  As  you  go  on,  you  will  find  some  religious  persons 
who  live  retired  in  monasteries  and  propose  to  themselves 
to  serve  God  in  that  way;  let  them  alone,  and  neither  kill 
them  or  destroy  their  monasteries."  This  is  neither  a  bad 
exposition  of  the  laws  of  war  or  of  the  principles  of 
Christianity. 

As  far  back  in  the  history  of  our  race  as  four  hundred 
years  B.  C.  the  great  Xenophon,  in  the  Cyropedia,  puts  in 
the  mouth  of  his  hero  Cyrus,  the  Prince  of  Persia,  an  order 
directing  that  his  army,  when  marching  upon  the  enemy's 
borders,  should  not  disturb  the  cultivators  of  the  soil. 
Now  let  us  draw  the  contrast  in  the  conduct  of  General 
Sherman  and  the  Arab  chieftain  who  denied  Christianity 
and  the  old  Greek  pagan  who  had  never  heard  of  Christ. 
Let  us  take  no  Southern  man's  testimony  ;  there  are  plenty 
of  honest  and  truthful  soldiers  of  the  Uliion,  who  were  with 
the  Federal  army  and  served  in  its  ranks,  to  tell  all  we 
want  and  more.  This  is  what  one  of  them  says,  writing  of 
that  campaign  to  the  Detroit  Free  Press  :  "One  of  the 
most  devilish  acts  of  Sherman's  campaign  was  the  destruc- 
tion of  Marietta.  *  *  *  The  Military  Institute  and  such 
mills  and  factories  as  might  be  a  benefit  to  Hood  could 
expect  the  torch,  but  Sherman  was  not  content  with  that  ; 
the  torch  was  applied  to  everything,  even  to  the  shanties 
occupied  by  the  colored  people.  No  advance  warning  was 
given.  The  first  alarm  was  followed  by  the  crackling  of 
flames.  Soldiers  rode  from  house  to  house,  entered  without 
ceremony  and  kindled  fires  in  garrets  and  closets,  and  stood 
by  to  see  that  they  were  not  extinguished." 

Again  he  says:  "Had  one  been  able  to  climb  to  such  a 
height  at  Atlanta  as  to  enable  him  to  see  for  forty  miles 
around,  the  day  Sherman  marched  out,  he  would  have  been 
appalled  at  the  destruction.     liundreds  of  houses  had  been 


480  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

burned,  every  rod  of  fence  destroyed,  nearly  every  fruit 
tree  cut  down,  and  the  face  of  the  country  so  changed  that 
one  born  in  that  section  could  scarcely  recognize  it.  The 
vindictiveness  of  war  would  have  trampled  the  very  earth 
out  of  sight  had  such  a  thing  been  possible." 

Again  he  says :  "  At  the  very  opening  of  the  campaign  at 
Dalton  the  Federal  soldiery  had  received  encouragement  to 
become  vandals.  Not  one  private  soldier  out  of  every  forty 
turned  robber  and  incendiary,  but  there  were  enough  to 
cast  a  stigma  on  the  whole.  From  Dalton  to  Atlanta  every 
house  was  entered  a  dozen  times  over,  and  each  new  band 
of  foragers  robbed  it  of  something.  Where  there  was  noth- 
ing in  the  shape  of  money,  provisions,  jewelry  or  clothing 
left,  the  looters  destroyed  furniture,  abused  women  and 
children,  and  ended  by  setting  fire  to  the  house.  As  these 
parties  rode  back  to  camp,  attired  in  dresses  and  bonnets, 
and  exhibiting  the  trophies  of  their  raid,  and  nothing  was 
said  to  them,  others  were  encouraged  to  follow  suit.  The 
treatment  of  colored  women  was  brutal  in  the  extreme,  and 
not  a  few  of  them  died  from  the  effects."  One  who  has  the 
nerve  to  sit  down  and  listen  to  what  they  can  tell  will  find 
his  respect  for  the  ignorant  and  savage  Indians  increased. 
But  these  were  preparatory  lessons.  When  Sherman  cut 
loose  from  Atlanta  everybody  had  license  to  throw  off 
restraint  and  make  Georgia  "drain  the  bitter  cup."  The 
Federal  who  wants  to  learn  what  it  was  to  license  an  army 
to  become  vandals  should  mount  a  horse  at  Atlanta  and  fol- 
low Sherman's  route  for  fifty  miles.  He  can  hear  stories 
from  the  lips  of  women  that  would  make  him  ashamed  of 
the  flag  that  waved  over  him  as  he  went  into  battle.  When 
the  army  had  passed  nothing  was  left  but  a  trail  of  desola- 
tion and  despair.  No  house  escaped  robbery,  no  woman 
escaped  insult,  no  building  escaped  the  fire-brand  except 
by  some  strange  interposition.  War  may  license  an  army 
to  subsist  on  the  enemy,  but  civilized  warfare  stops  at  live 
stock,  forage  and  provisions ;  it  does  not  enter  the  houses 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  48 1 

of  the  sick  and  helpless  and  rob  women  of  finger-rings  and 
carry  off  their  clothing. 

Add  to  all  these  horrors  that  most  merciless  and  inhuman 
order  of  expatriation,  by  which  the  entire  population  of 
Atlanta,  of  all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions,  were  driven  forth 
to  the  fields  of  a  desolated  country,  or  shipped  off  to  the 
rear  like  cattle,  an  order  which  was  followed  by  the 
"deliberate burning  of  Atlanta"  by  Sherman's  own  account. 
But  I  have  said  enough  about  these  horrors,  for  it  is  exceed- 
ingly unpleasant  to  speak  of  them.  Yet  they  must  be  told, 
if  for  nothing  else  than  to  excite  the  execration  of  humane 
people,  and  they  will  be  told  more  hereafter  than  ever 
before.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  cry  hush.  The  truth  is 
entitled  to  be  made  known. 

Let  us  resume.  We  left  the  operations  of  the  mili- 
tary with  General  Sherman  in  possession  of  what  was 
left  of  Fayetteville.  Hampton  and  Hardee  had  crossed 
the  Cape  Fear  and  destroyed  the  bridge.  The  forces 
available  to  meet  the  enemy,  according  to  General 
Johnston,  were  about  five  thousand  men  of  the  army  of 
Tennessee,  and  the  troops  in  the  department  of  North  and 
South  Carolina,  amounting  to  about  eleven  thousand 
more.  These  were  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
were  not  cencentrated  until  several  days  afterwards,  owing 
to  several  causes,  and  many  of  them  were  unarmed.  A 
few  days  before,  on  the  7th  of  March,  General  Bragg, 
commanding  the  troops  in  the  department  of  North  Caro- 
lina, with  Major  Generals  D.  H.  Hill  and  R.  F.  Hoke,  and 
a  remnant  of  Clayton's  division  of  the  Western  army, 
attacked  Major  General  Cox,  who  was  advancing  towards 
Goldsboro  from  New  Berne  with  three  divisions.  The 
engagement  took  place  near  Kinston,  with  considerable 
success  on  the  Confederate  side.  The  enemy  was  driven 
back  three  miles,  with  a  loss  of  1,500  prisoners,  and  quite  a 
number  of  killed  and  wounded. 

On  the  next  day  the   Confederate   forces  fell    back    to 

32 


482  LIFE   OF   VANCE. 

Goldsboro.  General  Sherman  made  his  way  steadily  from 
Fayetteville  towards  Goldsboro,  where  he  was  to  make  a 
junction  with  General  Schofield.  The  cavalry  under  Gen- 
erals Hampton  and  Butler  and  Wheeler  hung;  around  his 
flank  and  front,  impeding  and  annoying  his  march  as  much 
as  possible.  A  sharp  engagement  took  place  at  Averas- 
boro,  and  a  still  more  considerable  one  at  Bentonsville,  in 
which  the  Confederates  were  again  successful,  against  over- 
whelming numbers.  In  fact,  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston, 
a  sharp  observer  of  men  and  armies,  gives  it  as  his  opinion 
that  tiie  life  of  plunder  and  license  indulged  in  by  Sher- 
man's men  had  already  worked  its  legitimate  results  upon 
them,  and  that  they  did  not  fight  with  near  the  efficiency 
and  steadiness  which  characterized  them  on  their  entrance 
into  the  State  of  Georgia.  This  affair  at  Bentonsville  was 
the  last  considerable  engagement  of  the  war,  and  was  in 
some  respects  remarkable.  There  was  not  a  man  perhaps 
of  the  ten  or  twelve  thousand  men  on  the  Confederate  side 
who  was  not  perfectly  aware  that  the  war  was  over,  and 
that  his  fighting  was  hopeless,  yet  they  scarcely  ever 
fought  better,  maintaining  the  ground  all  day  long  against 
twice  their  numbers,  or  at  least  one-half  of  Sherman's 
army.  Again  and  again  they  drove  them  back  over  sev- 
eral miles,  covering  the  ground  with  dead,  and  capturing 
nine  hundred  prisoners,  whilst  the  enemy  lost  in  killed 
and  wounded  about  4,000.  The  little  Confederate  force 
only  fell  back  towards  Smithfield  when  Sherman's  whole 
army  came  up  to  push  them  from  their  position.  Without 
further  hostilities  Sherman  arrived  in  Goldsboro  on  the  23d 
of  March,  and  effected  his' junction  with  Schofield.  Their 
united  force  then  exceeded  110,000  men.  At  Goldsboro 
he  rested  his  troops,  refitted  and  made  his  arrangements 
for  the  final  operations. 

The  Confederate  forces  rested  likewise  near  Smithfield, 
half-way  between  Goldsboro  and  Raleigh,  repairing  their 


UFE   OF   VANCE.  483 

losses  and  preparing  as  well   as   tlie  exhausted   means   at 
hand  would  permit  for  the  last  struggle. 

On  the  loth  of  April  General  Sherman  put  his  troops 
in  motion  towards  Raleigh,  and  as  soon  as  informed 
thereof,  General  Johnston's  troops  began  to  fall  back  slowly 
before  him.  I  was  then  Governor  of  the  State  of  North 
Carolina.  Being  aware  of  the  situation  from  daily  com- 
munication with  the  Confederate  Generals,  T  had  already 
shipped  away  westward  the  principal  military  stores  of  the 
State,  together  with  the  most  necessary  archives  of  the 
various  departments.  About  the  loth  and  nth  of  April 
painful  rumors  were  circulated  throughout  the  capital  in  con- 
fidential circles  of  the  surrender  of  General  Lee.  Animated 
by  these  reports  and  also  by  the  fact  that  the  Confederate 
forces  were  passing  through  and  rapidly  uncovering  the 
capital  of  the  State,  and  that  all  further  operations  were 
really  intended  to  secure  such  terms  as  were  possible,  I 
consulted  General  Johnston  as  to  what  it  was  best  for  me 
to  do.  With  the  frankness  of  a  soldier  and  a  man  of  com- 
mon sense,  he  advised  me  to  make  the  best  terms  I  could 
for  the  protection  of  my  capital  and  people.  I  spoke  to 
him  about  the  propriety  of  sending  an  embassy  through 
his  lines  to  meet  General  Sherman.  Very  soon  thereafter 
he  went  west  to  meet  President  Davis  at  Greensboro,  leav- 
ing the  command  to  General  Hardee,  with  whom  I  like- 
wise had  a  conference,  and  who  gave  me  the  permit  to 
send  the  embassy. 

I  appointed  ex-Governor  Wm.  A.  Graham  and  ex-Gover- 
nor David  L.  Swain  commissioners  to  visit  General  Sher- 
man, and  gave  to  them  a  letter  to  him  requesting  that  he 
would  grant  protection  to  the  capital,  and  stating  that  these 
gentlemen  were  authorized  to  treat  with  him  for  that  pur- 
pose. A  copy  of  that  letter,  as  it  appears,  was  not  entered 
on  my  official  letter-book,  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain 
it ;  but  that  was  its  purport,  to  save  the  capital,  the  archives, 
etc.  Dr.  Edward  Warren,  Surgeon-General  of  the  State,  Col, 


484  WFE   OF   VANCE. 

James  G.  Burr,  of  Wilmington,  an  officer  of  the  State 
Guards,  and  Major  John  Devereaux,  of  my  staff,  accompanied 
the  commissioners  as  an  escort.  Leaving  Raleigh  in  a 
special  train  with  a  flag  of  truce,  they  passed  through  the 
rear  guard  of  the  Confederate  army,  commanded  by  General 
Hampton,  but  before  they  got  within  the  Federal  lines 
they  were  stopped  by  a  dispatch  from  General  Johnston, 
and  ordered  to  return  to  Raleigh.  This  order  was  deliv- 
ered by  General  Hampton  in  person,  and  obeying  it,  they 
reversed  the  engine  and  started  on  the  return.  But  mean- 
while, the  enemy's  troops  being  in  motion,  had  swept  by 
them  on  the  dirt  roads,  and  suddenly  they  found  them- 
selves halted  by  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  and  made  prisoners. 
The  result  was  that  they  were  taken  to  Sherman's  head- 
quarters, the  place  to  which  they  had  started.  There  their 
errand  was  discharged,  and  the  promised  protection  given 
in  letters  directed  to  me,  and  orders  issued  to  his  com- 
mand. 

When  starting  from  Raleigh  it  was  supposed  they  would 
be  able  to  return  by  four  o'clock  at  the  latest.  It  was  ex- 
tremely important  that  they  should  return  at  that  time, 
for  the  city  of  Raleigh  was  to  be  completely  uncovered 
that  night  and  the  remaining  of  the  Governor  and  all 
State  officers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  depended  on 
the  reply  which  was  expected  from  General  Sherman.  Of 
course  they  could  not  remain  with  the  certain  assurance  of 
capture,  which  would  have  been  equivalent  to  the  suspen- 
sion of  all  the  functions  of  government ;  but  for  some 
reason  Sherman  saw  proper  to  detain  the  Commissioners 
and  their  engine  until  next  morning.  He  had  been  in- 
formed of  the  countermanding  of  their  permit  and  no 
doubt  thought  that  he  obtained  some  advantage  by  detain- 
ing them  and  keeping  me  in  suspense.  No  doubt,  also,  as 
I  have  been  informed,  that  he  utilized  my  engine  by  mak- 
ing it  ply  all  night  between  his  camp  and  Goldsboro.  Mean- 
time it  had  been  reported   to  me  that  the  Commissioners 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  485 

and  their  engine  had  been  captured,  and  I  had  ceased  to 
expect  their  return.  At  precisely  midnight,  accompanied 
by  two  vohmteer  aids,  I  rode  upon  horseback  out  of  the 
city  of  Raleigh,  leaving  it  occupied  by  the  rear  guard  of 
Hampton's  Cavalry,  and  stopped  eight  miles  from  the  city 
in  the  camp  of  General  Hoke,  commanding  a  North  Caro- 
lina Division.  The  other  State  officers  had  j)reviously  re- 
tired to  Greensboro.  The  Commissioners  arrived  next 
morning  in  Raleigh,  took  possession  of  the  State  House  in 
my  absence,  and  made  all  arrangements  for  the  protection 
of  the  city  in  accordance  with  the  promise  of  Sherman. 
Soon  after,  one  of  them.  Governor  Graham,  undertook  to 
go  forward  toward  Hillsboro  and  deliver  to  me  the  letters 
and  orders  of  General  Sherman,  but  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  getting  horses  and  to  the  fact  that  the  roads  were  swarm- 
ing with  Federal  and  Confederate  cavalry  engaged  in  con- 
stant skirmishing.  Governor  Graham  did  not  overtake  me 
until  Friday  evening  at  his  own  house  in  Hillsboro. 

With  an  account  of  the  result  of  his  mission.  Governor 
Graham  also  informed  me  of  the  official  intelligence  of 
Lee's  surrender,  and  put  in  my  hands  an  invitation  from 
Sherman  to  return  to  Raleigh,  which  I  declined  to  accept. 
I  had  whilst  at  Hillsboro  received  an  urgent  despatch  from 
President  Davis,  asking  me  to  meet  him  in  Greensboro, 
This  I  desired  to  do,  as  well  as  to  confer  with  General 
Johnston,  who  was  there  also.  On  Saturday  morning, 
therefore,  I  sat^  out  on  horseback  from  Hillsboro,  to  join 
President  Davis.  On  arriving  at  Greensboro,  I  found  that 
he  and  the  members  of  the  cabinet  with  him  had  gone  on 
to  Charlotte.  I  followed  on,  and  had  an  interview  with 
the  President  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Reagan,  General 
Breckenridge,  and  one  or  more  members  of  his  cabinet 
beside.  I  told  him  I  had  come  to  him  to  advise  with  him 
what  to  do,  and  to  learn  his  further  intentions.  The  con- 
versation was  long  and  solemn.  jMr.  Davis  appeared  still 
full  of  hope,  and  discussed  the  situation  exhaustively.    He 


486  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

told  me  of  the  possibility,  as  he  thought,  of  retreating  be- 
yond the  IMississippi  with  large  sections  of  the  soldiers 
still  faithful  to  the  Confederate  cause,  and  resuming  opera- 
tions with  General  Kirby  Smith's  forces  as  a  nucleus  in 
those  distant  regions;  and  intimated  rather  than  expressed 
a  desire  that  I  should  accompany  him,  with  such  of  the 
North  Carolina  troops  as  I  might  be  able  to  influence  to 
that  end.  He  was  very  earnest,  and  displayed  a  remarka- 
ble knowledge  of  the  opinions  and  resources  of  the  people 
of  the  Confederacy,  as  well  as  a  most  dauntless  spirit. 
After  he  had  ceased  there  was  a  sad  silence  around  his 
council  board.  Perhaps  one  or  more  opinions  were  ex- 
pressed in  support  of  Mr.  Davis'  views,  and  then  General 
Breckenridge  spoke.  I  shall  never  forget  either  the 
language  or  the  manner  of  that  splendid  Kentuckian. 
With  the  utmost  frankness,  and  with  the  courage  of  sin- 
cerity, he  said  he  did  not  think  they  were  dealing  candidly 
with  Governor  Vance ;  that  their  hopes  of  accomplishing  the 
results  set  forth  by  Mr.  Davis  were  so  remote  and  uncer- 
tain that  he,  for  his  part,  could  not  advise  me  to  forsake 
the  great  duties  which  devolved  upon  me  in  order  to  fol- 
low the  further  fortunes  of  the  retreating  Confederacy ; 
that  his  advice  would  be  that  I  should  return  to  my  position 
and  its  reponsibilities,  do  the  best  I  could  for  my  people, 
and  share  their  fate,  whatever  it  might  be.  With  a  deep 
sigh  Mr.  Davis  replied  to  General  Breckenridge:  "Well,  " 
perhaps,  General,  you  are  right."  I  remarked  that  General 
Breckenridge's  views  coincided  with  my  own  sense  of  duty, 
and  after  a  very  little  more  conversation  I  arose  and  offered 
my  hand  to  President  Davis  to  bid  him  good-bye.  He 
shook  it  long  and  warmly,  saying:  "God  bless  you,  sir, 
and  the  noble  old  State  of  North  Carolina."  With  feel- 
ings which  I  am  not  able  to  describe  I  thus  bade  farewell 
to  the  Southern  Confederacy  and  returned  to  Greensboro, 
with  the  intention  of  going  to  Raleigh  and  resuming  my 
duties  as  Governor,  if  permitted. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  487 

Oil  the  evening  of  the  17th,  hearing  that  negotiations 
were  being  entered  into  between  Johnston  and  Sherman 
for  a  final  surrender,  1  left  Greensboro  to  accoinpany  Gen- 
eral Breckenridge  and  Postmaster  General  Reagan  in  a 
freight  car  to  go  to  General  Hampton's  headquarters, 
where  General  Johnston  was.  Arriving  there  (a  few  miles 
east  of  Hillsboro)  between  midnight  and  daybreak,  a  con- 
ference was  held  in  regard  to  the  proposed  meeting  with 
Sherman.  I  did  not  participate  in  that  conference,  but 
next  morning  about  sunrise  I  was  awakened  by  General 
Breckenridge,  who  took  me  out  of  the  house  and  informed 
me  of  the  result  of  the  conference,  and  further  gave  me 
confidentially  the  startling  news  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassina- 
tion, which  General  Johnston  had  the  night  before  received 
confidentially  from  General  Sherman.  By  both  sides  it  was 
deemed  of  the  highest  importance  that  this  information 
should  be  kept  secret  until  the  negotiations  were  termi- 
nated. As  soon  as  possible  thereafter  I  obtained  a  horse  and 
rode  back  into  Hillsboro  to  consult  with  Governor  Graham 
on  the  alarming  aspects  of  the  situation.  That  evening  I 
returned  again  to  Greensboro,  and  the  following  morning 
learned  of  the  terms  which  were  given  by  General  Sherman 
to  General  Johnston  for  the  surrender  of  his  army.  As  is 
known,  this  agreement  was  disapproved  by  the  authorities 
in  Washington,  and  a  very  different  one  was  finally  adopted. 
The  first  provided  not  only  for  the  surrender  and  security  of 
the  military  arm  of  the  Confederacy,  but  for  the  full  and 
complete  recognition  of  the  existing  autonomy  of  the 
States,  merely  requiring  that  the  various  State  officers  should 
attorn  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  taking  the 
usual  oaths  of  office  to  support  the  constitution,  etc.  The 
latter  provided  only  for  the  surrender  of  men  and  property 
of  the  Confederate  Army.  Because  I  have  been  severe  in 
my  denunciations  of  the  conduct  of  General  Sherman  and 
his  army  towards  unarmed  and  helpless  citizens,  I  have  no 
disposition  to  refuse  him  justice   when   I   think   he   really 


488  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

merits  it.  In  my  opinion  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  far- 
seeing  measures  connected  with  the  war  was  this  first  con- 
vention offered  by  General  Sherman.  It  was  as  generous 
as  it  was  wise.  It  has  perhaps  never  been  rated  at  its  true 
value  by  people  either  North  or  South. 

To  show  its  high  statesmanlike  character  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  say  that  had  it  been  ratified  at  Washington  the  au- 
thorities of  every  State  in  the  late  Confederacy  would  have 
at  once  sworn  allegiance  to  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  the  courts  and  the  laws  of  the  Federal  government 
would  have  immediately  resumed  their  sway,  and  the  do- 
minion of  the  Union  would  have  been  complete  at  once; 
greatest  result  of  all,  there  would  have  been  no  such  thing 
as  i-econsiriiction ;  no  such  thing  as  eleven  States  reduced 
to  military  districts,  with  all  civil  authority  overthrown 
and  the  bayonet  become  due  process  of  law.  There  would 
have  been  no  such  thing  as  eleven  blood-stained,  war-rid- 
den and  desolated  States  plundered  of  two  hundred  and 
sixty  millions  by  the  last  and  infinitely  worse  invasion 
of  the  army  of  carpet-baggers.  In  short,  when  I  say  that 
the  terms  offered  us  by  General  Sherman  would  have 
saved  the  South  the  horrors  of  reconstruction,  I  have  said 
all  that  human  eloquence  is  capable  of  saying ;  and  I  feel 
much  inclined  to  forgive  General  Sherman  the  horrors 
which  he  did  inflict  in  consideration  of  his  efforts  to 
avert  those  which  came  afterwards. 

Concluding  to  return  to  Raleigh  and  resume  my  duties 
as  Governor,  under  the  terms  of  the  first  convention,  I 
soon  learned  of  its  disapproval,  and  that  my  invitation  had 
been  withdrawn.  At  length  the  second  and  final  conven- 
tion was  agreed  to,  and  on  General  Schofield's  arrival  in 
Greensboro,  to  receive  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  little 
army,  which  took  place  about  two  miles  west  of  the  town 
of  Durham  on  the  Hillsboro  road,  I  went  to  that  ofhcer 
and  offered  to  surrender  myself.  He  declined  to  accept 
my  surrender,  but  told  me  I  was  at  liberty  to  go  home. 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  489 

General  Johnston's  army  having  surrendered,  as  soon  as 
information  could  be  conveyed  to  the  detachments  of 
either  army  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  hostilities 
ceased,  and  the  war  between  the  States,  begun  more  than 
four  years  before,  came  to  an  end. 

Of  course  the  limits  of  an  address  like  this  have  com- 
pelled me  to  take  but  a  brief  glance  at  many  things  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  demand  more  detail.  Many  incidents 
of  interest  I  have  had  to  omit  altogether.  Of  the  scenes 
of  demoralization  of  both  armies  in  the  closing  hours  of  the 
Confederacy's  existence,  it  pains  me  to  think,  much  more 
to  speak.  The  stores  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  were 
ruthlessly  plundered,  mostly,  I  grieve  to  say,  by  Southern 
soldiers;  not  North  Carolinians.  Efforts  to  protect  them 
proved  utterly  unavailing,  without  a  considerable  flow  of 
blood,  and  that  I  was  unwilling  to  see  shed — deeming  the 
lives  of  brave  men,  though  demoralized  ones,  worth  more 
than  all  the  treasures  which  the  State  had  accumulated.  The 
extent  of  these  stores  is  perhaps  not  generally  known ;  and 
yet,  a  knowledge  of  them,  as  well  as  of  the  number  of 
troops  she  sent  into  the  field  will  alone  enable  the  histo- 
rian to  do  justice  to  her  patriotism,  courage  and  resources. 

By  the  general  industry  and  thrift  of  our  people  and  by 
the  use  of  a  number  of  blockade-running  steamers,  carrying 
out  cotton  and  bringing  in  supplies  from  Europe,  I  had  col- 
lected and  distributed  from  time  to  time^  as  near  as  can  be 
gathered  from  the  records  of  the  Quarter-Master's  Depart- 
ment, the  following  stores :  Large  quantities  of  machinery 
supplies,  60,000  pairs  of  handcards,  10,000  grain  scythes,  200 
bbls.  blue  stone  for  the  wheat  growers,  leather  and  shoes  for 
250,000  pairs,  50,000 blankets,  gray  woolen  cloth  for  at  least 
250,000  suits  of  uniforms,  12,000  overcoats  (ready  made), 
2,000  best  Enfield  rifles  (with  100  rounds  of  fixed  ammuni- 
tion), 100,000  pounds  of  bacon,  500  sacks  of  coffee  for  hospital 
use,  $50,000  worth  of  medicines  at  gold  prices,  large  quan- 
tities of  lubricating  oils,  besides  minor  supplies  of  various 


490  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

kinds  for  the  charitable  institutions  of  the  State.  Not 
only  was  the  supply  of  shoes,  blankets  and  clothing  more 
than  sufficient  for  the  supply  of  the  North  Carolina  troops, 
but  large  quantities  were  turned  over  to  the  Confederate 
government  for  the  troops  of  other  States.  In  the  winter 
succeeding  the  battle  of  Chickamauga  I  sent  to  General 
Longstreet's  corps  14,000  suits  of  clothing  complete.  At 
the  surrender  of  General  Johnston  the  State  had  on  hand, 
ready  made  and  in  cloth,  92,000  suits  of  uniform,  with 
great  stores  of  blankets,  leather,  etc.  To  make  good  the 
warrants  on  which  these  purchases  had  been  made  abroad, 
the  State  purchased  and  had  on  hand  in  trust  for  the  hold- 
ers 1 1,000  bales  of  cotton  and  100,000  barrels  of  rosin.  The 
cotton  was  partly  destroyed  before  the  war  closed  ;  the 
remainder,  amounting  to  several  thousand  bales,  v/as  cap- 
tured after  peace  was  declared  by  certain  officers  of  the 
Federal  army. 

In  addition  to  these  supplies  brought  in  from  abroad, 
immense  quantities  of  bacon,  beef,  flour  and  corn  were  fur- 
nished from  our  own  fields.  *  *  *  Any  one  acquainted 
with  the  valley  of  the  Roanoke  and  the  black  alluvial 
lowlands  of  Eastern  North  Carolina  will  recognize  what 
they  can  do  in  the  production  of  corn  when  actively  culti- 
vated. And  they  and  all  the  lands  of  this  State  were 
actively  cultivated  for  the  production  of  food.  I  was  told 
by  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  that  when  his  army  was 
surrendered  he  had  in  the  depots  in  North  Carolina,  gath- 
ered in  the  State,  five  months'  supplies  for  sixty  thousand 
men,  and  that  for  many,  many  months  previous.  General 
Lee's  army  had  been  almost  entirely  fed  from  North  Caro- 
lina. In  relation  to  the  number  of  troops  furnished  to  the 
Confederate  government,  I  have  more  than  once  made  the 
boast  that  North  Carolina  furnished  not  rciath'cly^  but  ab- 
sohitely^  more  than  any  other  State.  This  assertion  has  not 
yet  been  denied  to  my  knowledge.     The  official  records  of 


LIFE   OF  VANCE.  49  ^ 

the    Adjutant-General's  office  show  that  North   Carolina 
furnished  troops  as  follows : 

As  Volunteers  at  outset 4.  3 

Recruited  bj'  Volunteers  from  time  to  time 21,608 

Recruited  by  Conscripts •  • "j^ 

In  all,  Regular  Troops  from  North  Carolina io4,»29 

Regular  Troops  in  the  State  Service 3.203 

Militia  on  Home  Duty ^'^ 

Junior  Reserves,  Confederate  Service 4, 217 

Senior  Reserves,  Confederate  Service •  •  •  ■       5,^^ 

Troops   from   North   Carolina  in  Regiments  m  other 

States '      '. ,,„„^ 

Grand  Total  of  all  Grades 124,000        / 

These  were  organized  into  71  regiments,  20  battalions  f 
and  24  unattached  companies.  All  these  were  raised  out  - 
of  a  white  population,  in  i860,  of  629,942,  or  one  soldierto 
every  six  souls !  At  Appomattox  and  at  Greensboro  North 
Carolina  surrendered  twice  as  many  muskets  as  any  other 
State  Her  dead  on  the  battle-fields  of  Virginia,  m  the 
maiority  of  cases,  was  twice  as  great  as  those  from  any  other 
State  and  in  more  than  one  of  Lee's  great  battles  they 
exceeded  the  dead  from  all  the  other  States  put  together. 

This  record  constitutes  a  proof  of  a  very  proud  distinc- 
tion but  it  is  due  to  North  Carolina  as  sure  as  truth  is  truth. 
In  my  opinion  she  was  less  exhausted  when  the  end  came 
than  any  other  State,  and  she  had  the  meaMs  and  zu^ah^y 
and  the  .//;'//  to  have  continued  the  struggle  two  years 
longer,  if  she  had  been  supported.  The  last  to  begin  the 
ficht,  she  was  the  last  to  leave  it !     Let  not  these  things  be 

forgotten.  ' 

A  o-reat  many  incidents  might  be  told  of  those  days  that 
would  well  repay  the  telling-grave  and  gay,  pathetic  and 
ludicrous.  During  a  hurried  trip  from  Raleigh  to  Salis- 
bury a  few  months  before  the  close  of  the  war  we  were 
stopped  a  few  miles  beyond  Greensboro  by  an  engine  in  . 
the  ditch  in  the  centre  of  a  deep  cut.  The  weather  was 
wet  and  the  mud  off  the  cross-ties  was  deep.  I  and  the 
other  passengers  were  compelled  to  get  off  the  train  going 


492  LIFE   OF  VANCE. 

west,  climb  the  bank  of  the  cut  and  walk  around  to  board 
another  train  beyond  the  disabled  one  which  blocked  the 
way.  That  train  which  we  were  to  take  had  brought  down 
a  large  lot  of  Federal  prisoners  from  Salisbury.  In  trying 
to  ascend  the  bank  I  had  great  difficulty,  and  finally  halted 
near  the  top,  unable  to  proceed.  Suddenly  a  dirty,  emaci- 
ated Yankee  soldier  on  the  top  of  the  bank  above  me  laid 
down  and  extended  his  hand  to  my  assistance  with  a  polite, 
"Allow  me,  sir,"  pulled  me  up  to  the  top.  I  thanked  him, 
and,  calling  to  my  servant,  gave  him  the  remnant  in  my 
lunch  basket  and  all  that  was  left  of  a  bottle  of  new  apple 
brandy,  that  sole  consoler  of  Southern  hopes  at  that  time. 

Half  starved  as  he  was,  he  gave  a  fair  shout  of  joy  and 
inquired  my  name,  which  I  gave  him.  Of  course,  I  never 
expected  to  hear  of  him  again — but  I  did.  It  proved  to  be 
both  bread  and  brandy  cast  upon  the  waters.  When  my 
native  town  of  Ashville  was  captured  about  the  very  time 
of  Johnston's  surrender,  that  same  boy  turned  up  in  the 
ranks  of  its  Federal  captors,  sought  out  my  widowed 
mother's  house,  which  was  in  the  suburbs  and  much 
exposed,  and  guarded  it  from  intrusion,  like  a  watch  dog, 
sleeping  in  the  porch  before  her  door. 

When  Johnston's  army  was  falling  back  through  Raleigh, 
a  battalion  of  Junior  Reserves,  composed  of  seventeen  year 
old  boys  from  South  Carolina,  passed  through.  Like  all 
others,  they  wanted  something  to  eat,  and  although  the 
army  had  more  provisions  than  it  could  remove  from 
Raleigh,  they  invaded  private  houses  everywhere,  clamor- 
ous for  food.  Two  delicate  looking  lads  walked  into  the 
door  of  the  executive  mansion  and  asked  to  be  served  ;  my 
family  had  gone  westward  and  there  was  no  one  in  the 
house  but  myself  and  two  servants,  and  they  were  broken 
down  with  cooking,  and  almost  everything  in  the  house 
was  exhausted  besides.  I  explained  all  this  to  them  and 
with  some  impatience  told  them  they  must  go  to  the 
quartermaster,  who  would  be  only  too  willing  to  furnish 


LIFE   OF   VANCE.  493 

them.  With  a  charming  impudence  they  quickly  sat  down, 
and  looking  up  at  me,  one  of  them  said  :  "  Mister,  that's 
the  way  we  always  told  the  soldiers  at  our  house,  but  they 
always  got  something  to  eat  before  they  left  anyhow." 
That  boy  was  well  fed  before  he  left! 

After  receiving  General  Schofield's  permit  to  return  to 
my  home  I  gathered  together  all  my  remaining  jDcrsonal 
possessions  in  the  world,  the  spoils  of  four  years  of  war, 
including  my  rights  in  the  territories,  consisting  of  a  saddle- 
horse,  a  wagon  and  a  pair  of  old  mules,  and  shipped  them 
in  a  freight  car,  and  with  a  few  friends  took  passage  in  the 
same  elegant  conveyance  towards  the  mountains.  The 
cars  and  highways  were  alike  filled  with  the  disbanded 
soldiers.  At  every  depot  where  we  halted  more  crowded 
in  and  upon  the  train.  It  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
I  could  keep  them  from  crowding  me  out  of  my  freight 
box  ;  their  repeated  attempts  to  do  so  had  irritated  me 
exceedingly.  Finally,  at  one  stopping  place,  I  saw  a  boy 
attempting  to  climb  through  a  hole  that  had  been  knocked 
in  the  side  of  the  car  to  admit  air.  I  stormed  at  him  to 
get  back ;  he  crawled  on  ;  I  jerked  my  navy  repeater  out  of 
its  holster  and  threatened  to  shoot  him  if  he  didn't  o;o 
back  ;  he  crawled  on  and  dropped  on  the  floor  of  the  car 
with  the  utmost  unconcern,  and  quietly  said,  "  you  don't 
look  like  you'd  shoot!"  My  friends  laughed,  my  anger 
passed  and  the  brave,  impudent  fellow  got  a  ride.  But  I 
must  close.     I  thank  you,  and  bid  you  all  good-bye. 


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